The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part One

The Square in Bakewell

James apparated first in the alleyway behind King's Court in Bakewell, immediately followed by Lily, who caught his arm as she tripped forward. James steadied her carefully. A moment later there was a third CRACK! and a great cacophony as several rubbish bins tipped over and a cat hissed in behind James and Lily. They turned about to find Sirius laying in the tumbled-down silver bins, covered with splatters of sauces and fragments of leftovers from the muggle patrons meals.

"Rubbish," he muttered, cursing. Then, realizing he was indeed sitting in rubbish, he laughed and his grey eyes twinkled in the corners. "Literally."

James rolled his eyes and stepped over with his hand offered out to pull Sirius up to his feet. "Great job, Pads."

Sirius beamed. "Ten, ten. Perfect score. With bonus points for flair," he replied. "I see neither of you made quite so grand an entrance. I'm a shoe-in to win the gold."

"Well every Death Eater here to London is aware we're in this back alley now, thanks to your most graceful apparating," James said.

Sirius's playful smirk slid away and he joined James and Lily as they moved quietly down the street, leaving the bins as they were, the black cat Sirius had scared off already inching her way closer, back toward the delicious temptations of the leftover fish and chips that had been tossed.

The square at the end of the alleyway was quiet, though not uninhabited. Muggles were going about their everyday lives, coming and going from the pub. A street vendor across the way had a cart full of pretty cut flowers and roasted nuts and tiny gift wares that only tourists would be interested in - baby spoons and thimbles, bracelet charms and miniature Union Jacks on tiny sticks. He stood a few feet away from his cart, puffing a cigarette, sheltered against the stones of an Inn.

James glanced at Lily and Sirius, keeping his silence, then stepped back into the alley. "What d'ya reckon?" he whispered. "I don't see anybody from the Order - or any known Death Eaters about...?"

"No one can fake Fawkes though, can they?" Lily inquired. "He's Dumbledore's patronus and his only, isn't he?"

Sirius said, "Perhaps everyone's inside."

"It's a muggle pub," James pointed out, "If they're inside, they can't be talking about what's going on. Perhaps we have the wrong place?"

Suddenly a dark shadow passed over the mouth of the alley, and there was a man in a long coat and a hat pulled low, walking quietly toward them, his hat pulled down across his brow, setting his face into shadow. James pushed between Sirius and Lily, so that he stood facing the man, blocking the two of them, and drew his wand from his holster. "Stop there," he commanded, his voice resolute.

The man stopped. "Potter, you best put that thing away before you blast someone's eye out," came a gruff voice.

"And he's only one to spare, mind you," came a more flippant one, as a second, much narrower, taller figure appeared behind the first man. There was no mistaking this one's identity - the moment the moonlight hit his hair, it lit up brilliantly ginger and his smile gleamed across his face. Well, there may be some mistaking him, as James couldn't tell which of the twins it was - Gideon or Fabian - but it was certainly one of the Prewetts.

"Prewett One," grunted Mad Eye Moody, "Bloody get back under the charm, unless you want us all to be outed!" He turned with a fierce look at what must be Gideon, who waved, then ducked backward, out of the alley and.... completely disappeared.

"Awesome," whispered Sirius, grinning ear-to-ear with approval.

Mad Eye turned back to look at the three of them. "C'mon, we've a lot to go over and you're the last to arrive of who we honestly expect to come." He lumbered off toward the end of the alley, reaching out a hand as though holding up the flap door of an invisible circus tent, and waved his wooden cane for them to hurry past him.

James glanced at the other two, then hurried forward, leading the way.

A spell had been cast to protect a row of small tables that sat in a row along the left side of the square, in front of a breakfast cafe which was closed for the evening. Stepping through the edges of the spell, they were suddenly able to see these tables and the people seated around them - the Order members, including Dumbledore.

"Come in, come in, sit down," Dumbledore greeted them, waving his arms to an empty table to his right.

James, Lily, and Sirius took their seats. Lily and Sirius looked most nervous - this was their first Order meeting, they hadn't sat in on something like this before with Dumbledore and the Resistance on hand. Lily reached under the table and found James's hand, squeezing it tightly in her fingers. James squeezed hers back.

"Where is Master Lupin?" Dumbledore asked, looking at Sirius specifically.

"Uni, he had his first classes today. I left him a note so he knows where to find us," Sirius replied.

"Very good," Dumbledore nodded. His eyes glanced over James and Lily. "To catch up our newcomers... We have intelligence from one of our men on the inside of Lord Voldemort's movement that there are plans tonight to begin an assault on the freedom of muggles. The followers of Voldemort have chosen Bakewell because of its proximity to both Scotland and England, with plans to use it as a base in a more accessible place than the Great Northern Woods, nor Iceland, at the village of Fallengunder. Our intelligence says that these men are armed with newly made vials of Werewolf Venom, and they have been instructed to turn or kill every man, woman, and child they meet."

Lily gasped and covered her mouth in horror. James's eyebrows knit in concern and Sirius looked to James. "You said that R--" he stopped himself from saying the name, and amended, "That our... contact... got the werewolf venom."

"He did," James replied, "He told me he did." James looked to Dumbledore. "They can produce venom that quickly?"

"An entire army of wolves, Potter, they can produce it in a single full moon," Moody said grouchily. "Use your mind, Potter, use your mind."

James flushed.

Dumbledore nodded. "Their supplies may be limited, which may be why they've been instructed to turn or kill." He paused. "We in the Order are the only ones who will stand between Voldemort and these muggles. The Ministry has refused to send Aurors on official duty to aid us as they do not believe that our contact among Voldemort's Death Eaters can be correct. They say this is a decoy. Officially deployed Aurors are on full alert, but not in present company."

"That's why Fabian isn't here," offered up Gideon, who was seated now a few tables away, beside Dorcas Meadows. "On official duty." He held his fingers up in little quotations about his ears as he said the words.