AN: I'm only going to say this once. Fuck canon. I'm going to change some shit, I'm going to give my justification in story and that's that. Honestly Rowling if you are going to unleash soul sucking demons at the start of a book you should have at least tried to use them! So, fuck that, fuck them, I'm dealing with this shit.
Remember to thank Functionality for betaing everyone! Who so helpfully started poking me. While I was making the corrections he pointed out, on my phone, during lunch break, because I love you all. Enjoy!
I woke up feeling good. Well rested, dare I even think it, positive. Not happy, there was still too much wrong for that, but at least it felt like I wasn't constantly walking uphill. When Harry joined me for breakfast, he was almost cheery. And that was when I started to think something was strange.
I hadn't felt this good since I got here. Harry hadn't seemed this positive since he had the chance to go flying. Not to say we didn't have cause for our moods, but for us to suddenly feel more positive, at the same time, is a bit of a red flag. Still, this was a mild enough effect…. Cheering charms? I'd read about those, but I was unclear on the specifics, and to sneak past all my silk lines in the black of night without breaking any… unlikely. And the wizards' teleportation made too much noise to go unnoticed. Something in the food? Plausible, but I'd had gossamer strands crisscrossing the kitchen as well. None had been broken while we slept. I'd had to give orders for them to be cut down the same as every other morning.
So, either someone could cast some sort of mild cheering charm over the whole building or… or what? Damn this world. There is so much I just don't know and haven't had the time to learn.
Finishing the last of my oatmeal I went to the sink and washed out my bowl then glanced up sharply as the front door slammed open.
One hand dipped into a pocket for a can of pepper spray Harry also tensed his wand finding its way into his hand. I got a doxy close enough to see who it was and relaxed, mostly.
"Looks like the Lupins." I said.
Harry relaxed fully, grumbling about manners, and letting people know they'd be getting visitors. Of course, he also immediately put water on for tea.
Nymphadora burst into the room, her hair a riotous neon pink, and a blinding smile on her face.
"Taylor! I know you hate me, but I just have to say I love what you've done with the portrait of Sirius's Mum. Absolutely brilliant, that!"
I opened my mouth to say something, but she swept right past me and scooped Harry up into a hug and spun him around in a circle. About that point I wondered if magic could make good vibes bombs and she'd been closer to the epicenter than Harry and I. Remus entered at a more sedate pace, but he too was grinning from ear to ear.
"Dare I even ask?" I asked, gesturing at his wife.
"Good news is a bit hard to come by these days and more than worth celebrating." Remus answered as Harry pushed himself out of Nymphadora's arms loudly demanding to know if she had gone utterly insane. She cackled in response.
"Pregnancy hormones?" I asked. Both adults choked on spit. "War's not a great time to be having a kid. Especially not for a combatant." I raised my best judgmental eyebrow at both of them causing them to sputter more. Harry by contrast did his best not to laugh at their discomfort by focusing his attention on getting teacups for everyone.
"That's not it at all!" Remus insisted.
"Though I should probably pick up some more potions just to be safe." Nymphadora admitted far too candidly for my taste.
"What exactly made you two come running here first thing in the morning?" I asked. Getting in a catty remark against Nymphadora was not worth learning more about her sex life, best to get things back on point.
"Albus pulled off a bloody miracle." Remus answered with a grin. "It must have taken every favor he was owed by anyone outside the country and then some begging on top, but he managed to convince the ICW that a breeding population of dementor's feeding as they please constituted a serious threat to the statute of secrecy, and to the world in general."
Harry's jaw dropped.
"No bloody way. Do you meant to tell me-" Harry was cut off as Nymphadora whooped and spun him around in another hug.
"It took the largest multinational task force I've ever heard off, but they did it!" Nymphadora shouted. "They rounded them all up, and last I heard the plan is to sink them into the bottom of an ocean trench in a box just big enough to fit them!" She cackled like a mad woman.
Remus nodded with a grin.
"A few may have escaped, but if they did? We can handle a few loners. I doubt we'll get any more help from the international community after this." The werewolf admitted. "But even still it's a weapon the enemy has been denied, and that's a victory all on its own."
That explained everyone's good mood then. No one was making us happy; we just aren't fighting to hold steady against misery anymore.
"It will certainly do wonders for morale." I admitted with a small smile of my own.
The direct results had already been noticeable, but removing the soul sucking monsters immune to physical harm from the board? That made me feel much better about getting into this mess. Now, if I could just get my hands on two or three dozen juvenile magic spiders for costume weaving, I might actually start to feel productive again. I wanted some new threads ready before I found targets in need of my personal touch, and the dragon hide vests Harry ordered were finally in anyway, so I really did want to get started.
"Will there be an Order meeting?" Harry asked.
"Tonight." Remus confirmed.
"Good." Harry nodded. "Taylor and I need to talk to some people about arranging at least a few day trips, and we might need someone to sit on Dumbledore long enough that we can demand some straight answers about a few things as well."
And between the Lupin's surprised bewildered expressions and just how serious Harry looked right then… Well, I let myself smile a little. Being humble was all well and good, but if he wanted to be in this fight, he needed to be confident enough to say his piece. And make others listen.
"Harry?" Remus asked.
Harry glanced my way and I nodded back. He could handle this, and anything we might say would sound better coming from him than from me.
"Taylor had a theory about how Voldemort survived, and it fits. It actually explains some things that happened my second year, but if it's true… we can't just keep going like this. If it's true we need to start hunting things down as soon as possible and if it's not, well, we've got some ideas for how we could deal with him even if we can't kill him." A couple of those ideas were even Harry's.
"One less now." I spoke up. "It's a bit hard to feed him to a dementor if they're all gone." Not that I would complain, it was hardly our only plan, and being rid of the damn things was far and away better. "Give me an hour I'll see if I can't plan out a few that are more creative."
Harry barked a laugh, and I grinned a touch wider. Yes, being rid of the dementors really was for the best.
{}{}{}{} Harry, that night.
I dragged a chair right next to Taylor's against the kitchen wall opposite the door. We'd spent part of the afternoon debating just how much to say in front of the whole order. Which really meant we had a heated discussion about information security in a world with mind readers, truth potions, and Snape being a double agent neither of us fully trust. Taylor grudgingly admitted that much as she wanted to try imitating her friend Lisa, picking at the Order to try and find leverage might be a mistake. Especially when they just scored a major victory. No matter how reasonable her arguments, any criticism would ring hollow right now. Though she did reserve the right to go for Snape's throat if he decided to be an obstacle and Dumbledore let him.
Eventually she agreed to back me up and follow my lead, just asking that I not talk up her abilities too much. When I'd asked why she was willing to follow my lead she looked at me like she thought I was stupid.
"Harry, in between getting tortured by two different teachers last year you managed to train up a teenage resistance movement when you could only meet once or twice a week, at best. Then you put together a team for a rescue mission and got ambushed because you were fed bad information. Despite being outnumbered by more experienced killers you got your team out of that ambush, and none of them died. You might need more experience, and you do need to think things through more. But you know these people, and this world, and you have good instincts. They aren't going to listen to me until I prove myself. And if you've picked up even a bit of my skepticism about the Order, which I know you have, then I think you'll do alright. Just so long as you don't let them talk down to you like a kid. You're in this fight no matter how anyone feels about it. None of them are your parents or guardians, and you've already fought the Lich more times than all but Dumbledore. Make your case, hear what they have to say, but don't be afraid to stand your ground if you don't like their answer. And no matter what, don't let anyone dismiss you, because you've more than earned the right to be taken seriously."
She said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Grass is green, the sky is blue, and I deserved a healthy dose of respect from a bunch of people with decades more experience than me. It was… disorienting.
Taylor always seemed in control, with at least the start of a plan. Falling into her rhythm was as easy as breathing, right until she said something overly paranoid or vicious and needed to be talked back down to earth. And she was willing to follow my lead here?
I didn't call her on it, but I was pretty sure a large part of that came back to the fact no one but the Lupins, Moody, and maybe Dumbledore would take her seriously. She couldn't make anyone listen, but even still, I knew she'd rather deal with everything herself. That she was willing to let me try and get through to the Order instead… It was trust. Maybe not a lot. She could always cut them out and move on her own if this failed after all. But she was still willing to support me for it and that meant something.
Ron and Hermione would tell me to have faith in Dumbledore. Taylor thought he was halfway senile. Dumbledore promised lessons now that I could defend my mind but hadn't made time to explain anything. He admitted to knowing leaving me with the Dursley's wouldn't be good for me. If professor McGonagall had listened to us about the Stone in first year? If they had evacuated the school in second year? If Snape hadn't barged in and tried to get Sirius killed in third? If anyone at all had noticed Moody wasn't himself or offered me real advice for the tournament? If Dumbledore had just told me what it was Voldemort was after in the Department of Mysteries and explained the connection?
I'd messed up last year charging in. But I wasn't the only one to have really, really messed up over the years. Taylor was right about that, and as she'd bluntly put it; At least you're willing to do something.
So, I settled into the chair next to hers, took a deep breath, and got ready for a fight.
The room filled up slowly, every new arrival threw Taylor and I a baffled glance. Before finding a seat. Apparently unsure if we were actually meant to be here. The Lupins kept glancing our way wondering just how messy this might become. Mrs. Weasley almost stormed over but Mr. Weasley must have seen something in Taylor or I because he held her back and led her to a pair of seats away from us.
Dumbledore and Snape were the last two to enter and they came together. Snape sneered and the headmaster's eyebrow's rose in surprise.
"Harry, Taylor, while it's a pleasure to see you again, we are about to begin the meeting." Dumbledore said placidly.
"Yes, sir. That's what we're here for." I answered.
"The headmaster was telling you to leave, Potters." Snape cut in snidely.
"Yeah, I picked up on that." I shrugged. "But since you seem to have missed it, that was me saying 'no, we're staying.'"
That got more than a few people muttering. Snape opened his mouth for some cutting remark, but Dumbledore spoke up before he could.
"Harry my boy, I understand that this is all frustrating, but we do have a minimum age requirement for joining the order."
"All due respect, Headmaster, no one outside this room is going to care if I'm seventeen, seven, or seventy. They're just going to try and kill me, or ask me why I'm not out there stopping Voldemort, and I've got multiple near death experiences to back that up. You're going to need a better argument."
Taylor spoke up before anyone else could.
"And I didn't go to the trouble of getting my hands on so many weapons so I could stand back while you all played secret agent. Harry filled me in on the stakes and the risks before we left Vegas. I came here to help stop an ethnic cleansing, not to play blushing bride."
Snape gave Taylor his best unimpressed look.
"Forgive me," Snape said, voice thick with sarcasm, "but a slip of a girl incapable of magic will be about as useful as one of our first years."
Taylor looked at me and gestured at Snape with both hands. Her face asking for permission. And I knew her well enough now to know that was nothing but theater for the Order. If she really wanted to chew him out she wouldn't even bother asking. But the Order wouldn't know that. And if the only thing she could control was what people thought they knew about her? She would very happily leave them all completely in the dark.
I only thought for a couple seconds before I noticed that no one was disagreeing with Snape. That was enough for me to make up my mind. These people were meant to be fighting against Voldemort, but here they were willing to dismiss me because of my age and Taylor because she couldn't work a wand? No, we didn't want to pick a fight with the Order, but they needed a wake up call.
"Fine, just don't kill him." I sighed and leaned back against the wall. No matter what, this promised to be entertaining.
Taylor snorted.
"Please, I'm not going to spend my night cleaning up blood stains just to prove a point." She smirked at me before turning back to Snape. A glance around the room showed a lot of people suddenly paying much closer attention.
"I find it very interesting that the supposedly reformed terrorist is so quick to dismiss me because I lack the ability to throw pretty lights out of a stick." Taylor said.
A second glance about the room showed a lot of offended faces, and Moody breaking out into a slow, sly grin as his magic eye bounced back and forth between Snape and Taylor.
"The fact that you are just as entitled to your life and safety as any wizard or witch does not change the reality that you will be unable to fight against the Dark Lord or his people." Snape snapped.
"Oh, so it's going to be like that is it? You're not a bigot, I'm just a stupid child too weak to fight with the rest of you. Never mind that half of you are out of shape, office workers, or near geriatrics, I'm the one who won't be worth a damn in a fight." Taylor scoffed and ignored a number of people bristling at those descriptions. "But what else should I expect from a coward that thinks slaughtering civilians in their homes is a fair fight."
"Watch your mouth, girl! You have no idea what you're talking about!" Snape stood from his chair trying to loom. Taylor didn't react at all.
"Oh? You sure about that? I've met plenty of neo Nazis and that's what they are like. Hiding behind a mask or a bedsheet. Doesn't seem like much of a difference to me."
Dumbledore opened his mouth to interject but Snape snarled out his next retort first.
"Potter! Make yourself useful for once and control your wife! If you're not even going to explain the reality of the situation to her you shouldn't have brought her."
He did not just say that. Merlin damn it, he did.
"Clear your mind, Snape, maybe that will help, though I doubt it." For one glorious second, he looked like I'd slapped him with a fish.
"Really now, I think-" Dumbledore started to speak but Taylor rolled right over him.
"Control your wife." Taylor quoted with venom. "Not just a bigot, no you're also a misogynist. Can't deal with a woman who's willing to talk back? Or are you just not used to anyone calling you out after all these years operating in Dumbledore's shadow. I'll tell you what I know about people like you, Snape, and groups like your masked friends. They don't give gang tats to just anyone. So tell me, what did you do to earn that skull on your arm?"
The dining room fell silent for a moment and before anyone could form a response Taylor pushed on.
"Gang initiations are never pretty." She spoke softly, harshly. "I doubt they made you take a beating to prove how tough you are. Not with a group like this. Sometimes you would hear about victims escaping with just a nasty beating that leaves them in the hospital until all the organ damage heals. But the ones I'm most familiar with? Those are ethnic gangs. Asian centric and neo Nazis. Those initiations are usually just murdering some innocent person for being different."
I could actually see the moment Snape realized Taylor wasn't just talking complete shite. She was looking at him and seeing a man who did something inexcusable for reasons she rejected, and she hated him for it. More than that she was going to drag the reason she hated him into the light in front of a room full of people he is supposed to work with.
And all around the room people shifted. Like turning a kaleidoscope, suddenly the picture changed. Now it wasn't Snape putting the upstart teen with no magic, and no clue what was happening, in her place. It was a girl with experience decrying a man who did something horrible for shite reasons.
"That would be bad enough on its own, but you couldn't even commit. No, you got cold feet and went running to Dumbledore for protection." Taylor scoffed. "And the only guarantee anyone has that you won't do the same to us if it looks like we're going to lose… is that one man trusts you. As far as I'm concerned the best thing I could do for the war effort right this instant, is bury you in a shallow grave and be done with it."
Snape rallied and sneered, but it lacked some of the usual impact.
"That would be very shortsighted when I am the only spy in the enemy camp."
"Not if we're the enemy." Taylor answered flatly. "Though you might have a point, it would be better to dose you with a truth potion and get names and locations before killing you." Taylor shrugged. "Of course, that would only help if this bunch is willing to start assassinating the opposition." She looked around the room and took in the many thoughtful faces and sighed before looking at me. "I still say we would do better organizing your defense students into a proper militia. Just need a tighter magical contract with harsher penalties, make sure they know what they're signing up for from the beginning instead of leaving it a surprise like Hermione did."
And there she goes playing to the audience again. She's not in control, we hadn't planned this out loosely in advance. Oh no, this was me dragging her along and convincing her to play nice. And leaving that little reminder that we could figure something out without the Order if we really needed to wasn't intentional, that was just rehashing an old argument. And just like all her best lies it was even technically true.
I shrugged.
"You agreed to let me try. They've got experience from the last war, and resources, and the only information network available."
Taylor sighed dramatically and I had to swallow a grin so I didn't give the game away.
"Look," I said, turning back to the rest of the room, "we could sit here all night and let Taylor rip through Snape's credibility." And wouldn't that be fun to watch? "Or we could get on with it. I've got a couple things to bring up tonight either way."
Moody cackled.
"Oh, I like you, lass. Potter, I don't know where you found this girl, but she's a keeper. Known each other for less than a month and she's got you standing up for yourself like you could whip the world with her help." The man snickered to himself. "Mrs. Potter, do this pack of idiots a favor and show them what you were ready to do if Snape went for his wand."
Taylor breathed out a quiet huff and then made a come here gesture.
A pair of doxies poised on either side of Snape's neck hissed before flying over to land on Taylor's shoulders. A scorpion dropped to the table from both of Snape's sleeves, and a black widow crawled out of the pocket I assumed had his wand. Then just to really drive the point home Taylor pulled a knife and laid it across her lap.
Which was interesting because I know she had one of the smaller pistols on her. Given Moody's grin actually got toothier, so did he.
Snape's face paled a little. No one said a word, but Moody kept right on cackling.
"Oh yes, Snape. Girl had you right where she wanted you. If you'd gone for your wand you'd have been bitten and stung bad enough to startle, probably even tossed your own wand, and then she'd have been on you before you could figure out what happened."
Moody chortled.
"I keep telling you lot, constant vigilance! Girly knows exactly how bad it would be to get into a duel with someone, but she doesn't have to win a duel to win, and she's not going to try."
Taylor eyed Moody, looking a bit put out. Definitely because he had called her on it. I could almost see the competing thoughts. That was one card up her sleeve she had to assume Voldemort would know soon enough, and she hadn't even gotten to use it. On the other hand, this might just get some of the Order to take her a bit seriously. Finally, she shrugged.
"Spell, knife, or rock to the head, you're just as dead no matter how they kill you."
Moody started cackling again.
"Let 'em stay, Albus. I want to hear what these kids have cooked up." Moody settled back into his chair.
Snape looked like he was chewing on a lemon, but he kept his mouth shut. Around the room people murmured, not sure what to think anymore. Mrs. Weasley was very visibly scandalized. But most important Dumbledore was looking at us blank faced as he stroked his beard, and not pushing to toss us out. He was at least thinking about it. Finally, Dumbledore nodded and started asking people for their reports.
I let out a very quiet breath I'd tried not to hold. Taylor noticed and surreptitiously bumped her knee against mine. Right. Game face. We were in, now we needed to fade into the background like responsible adults and wait for our turn to talk. Otherwise we'd seem way too pushy.
{}{}{}{} Taylor
This meeting was in fact more interesting than the last. Dumbledore explained that he had forced the international community's hand with reminders of just how many planes and cargo ships left Britain daily, and just how bad it could get if the dementors decided to spread out. That got most countries to move in a hurry. But it came with a price: the international community now felt that Britain owed them and they were very unlikely to offer further aid so long as Voldemort stuck to Britain and stayed out of their business.
Unfortunate, but predictable. Given they had stayed out of things last time and left Britain to sort itself out? Probably the best anyone could have asked for or accomplished. It also meant Dumbledore was giving up on trying to pressure other nations for more aid which meant more resources directed at the threat. Really, I wasn't hearing any major downsides.
Snape confirmed the Lich was in a snit and that the three dementors he had been keeping close fled, either into the countryside or back to their island prison. Nymphadora then gleefully piled on more good news by declaring the DMLE caught those three trying to sneak back in like they had done nothing wrong. The DMLE decided everyone else had the right idea and sunk them in very deep water in an unbreakable box.
That declaration won a round of genuine cheers,
Then it was a stream of very boring reports hiding tiny little nuggets of genuine intelligence. Three different surveillance targets were all seen in the same bar at different times. It could be a good bar, a recruiting ground, or a place they could drop information to one another outside full meetings. One guy had a fondness for walks through the countryside and even had a preferred trail to follow. And a certain foody went to the same restaurant at least once a week.
I'd actually pulled out a pad and wrote those details down. One business to investigate and two easy targets right there waiting to be hit. Just needed to talk strategy and find out if they wanted to do this piecemeal or wait until they had intelligence on as many targets as possible.
Finally, the last reports rolled in and the meeting started wrapping up.
"Was there any other business anyone needed to bring up?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and spoke up.
"Yes, sir. Taylor and I haven't had much to do besides exchanging stories and plotting, so we've been picking away at how we could contribute and we came up with a few things. First one is really all Taylor though." He glanced my way and I nodded.
"So before… all of this happened." I gestured at Harry, which prompted a wry grin from my husband. "I had to survive a lot of nasty situations of my own. And one thing that saved my life a few times is spider silk." I pulled out several foot long lengths of silk cord and started passing them around. The Order members eyed them oddly, not sure what they were supposed to be seeing.
"If you use the right kind of spiders, you can make fabric or rope that almost refuses to be cut. I had to use tin snips the first time I tried this out, and even then, it took a lot of work to cut it. Don't ask me how well it stands up to magic because I have no idea. I doubt it would save you from a direct hit with a cutting curse or anything, but it will absolutely stop knives, and more importantly for you all, shrapnel. Which could be very useful if someone decides to throw around blasting curses. Or if you manage to get behind something when they throw the killing curse around, and your cover starts exploding."
Several members of the Order now eyed the small lengths of cord thoughtfully. I shrugged. And very deliberately did not mention my hopes that silk from magic spiders might be spell resistant.
"The problem is just how many spiders you need to make even a little bit of cloth. Never mind silk shirts and long johns for everyone here. And the best breeds of spiders for this are not native to Britain. I brought some of the second best with me, but breeding a large enough population for this much work would take months, and be very difficult to maintain in winter. But Harry tells me you already have a good sized population of spiders, right next to your school." I looked Dumbledore in the eye.
"The acromantula." Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully.
"Exactly. I won't know till I get a look at them and their silk. Maybe not until I can run some tests, but it's a possibility. Assuming I can actually control them. I've never tried to control anything sapient before. Might help, probably can't hurt, and more importantly, leaving a colony of man eating magic spiders that close to school children… it needs to be addressed. But I don't know them, or your groundskeeper, or the forest. So, at some point we should sit down and figure that out. Especially if this Dark Lord might decide to try pointing them at us."
Now a lot of people were looking very nervous and muttering to themselves. That was what we agreed would be my contribution. A reminder of a nasty threat in their backyard and an offer of something potentially life saving, but not game changing.
I settled back against the wall and let Harry pick things back up.
"The other thing we've been thinking on," Harry said firmly, pulling attention back to him, "is Voldemort's survival, and how to avoid a repeat. Between the two of us and the Black family library we've cooked up… a lot of back up plans in case we can't figure out how to undo whatever keeps him here. That list includes: giving him a lobotomy, years of total sensory deprivation, draught of living death, and obliviating him until he can't remember how to walk."
I grinned darkly and started bouncing one leg for show.
"We've got more ideas, and I'd be happy to offer up the full list sometime, but I wanted to put the idea out there, in case anyone else has better ideas. Just something to think about." Harry continued.
Moody was looking very darkly amused by the abbreviated list. A lot of people were looking back and forth between Harry and I, maybe trying to figure out who came up with what. And Dumbledore, as well as a couple others, looked… not disappointed or angry, just sort of tired and sad.
"We also have… well we've got a theory. About how he pulled it off." Harry eyed Dumbledore carefully but the old man just blinked in surprise. "Taylor likes to read, and it turns out muggles remember a lot of things about us; they just don't realize any of it is real and you have to sift through the nonsense that got mixed in over time. When I told her everything it reminded her of the villain from a novel, and then she remembered that it had its roots in old folk tales about people or creatures hiding their death in-"
"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice cracked like a whip through the room. All eyes snapped to his dumbstruck face as he visibly shook. Harry shook his head like he couldn't quite believe it.
"Shite, we're right, aren't we? It would explain…" Harry shut his mouth with a click. "Well, that's just bloody terrible."
I shrugged.
"We already suspected." I said. "Either we can deal with the problem, or we can't. And we've already got a list of options ready in case we can't. Though if we're going to go that route, we better get rid of his followers first." I tapped my notepad. "Which reminds me, are you all trying to get information on as many targets as possible before acting? Or are you going to start planning disappearances? The guy who likes hiking and the one always eating at the same restaurant would be really easy to abduct, question and vanish." I eyed Snape. "And changes in their routine would be very obvious."
Snape scowled at me, but didn't get to respond as two different arguments kicked off at once. Most were demanding to know exactly what Harry and I figured out, while Dumbledore told them all to drop it. And the rest were arguing about hitting targets now versus waiting.
Harry jumped right into that debate, advocating for waiting until we could get at least a handful quickly, but not so many that we were spread thin enough to take chances with the abductions. Then asked if the Lich could track the Dark Marks and where we could safely interrogate them.
I kept my mouth shut for now, content to soak in the chaos and debates. Harry did in fact have a decent head for this when he stopped to think, and Mad-Eye at least was willing to answer the questions we had that kept stalling our own planning sessions. Now the ball was in the hands of Dumbledore and the Order. There wasn't much else for us to do until they sorted themselves out and decided how they would proceed.
