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The streets of London, which were normally packed with tourists and locals at any given time of the day, were abnormally empty.
There were only three people on this particular street. A passing bicyclist, an elderly woman watering the flowers outside of her shop, and a woman who was hidden from everyone but herself.
Marissa Hemmingway, most commonly referred to as Rissa, was on duty for the fourth day in a row at this location. The blonde headed woman stood in the shadows of the building at her back. She had been standing there for three hours keeping an eye on the store three doors down and across the blacktop.
Sweat pooled at the collar of her cotton shirt. It was an astonishing 26 degrees in downtown London that day. The entirety of England had been in a heatwave for the past month with no end in the near future.
A Death Eater by the name of Jacqueline Brownstone was known for frequenting the muggle establishment. Numerous reports of dark magic had been made at the location over ten times in the past two months. But any time that an Order member was present, there was not so much as a peep.
The wrist watch on her tanned arm let out a three toned ding; watch duty was over. Rissa walked over to the next street before ducking into a side alley that did not have any people. She took her mahogany wand out of her jeans pocket and cast the counter for the disillusionment charm she had placed upon herself hours earlier. She quickly checked to make sure no muggles were around before spinning on her heel and apparating away.
Even after doing it for five years, the feeling of her body being contorted through time and space never got easier. There were still a few times that the feeling of her intestines being rearranged had the contents of her stomach making a reappearance upon arrival, although it was less common the older she got. Luckily for her this was not one of those times. Although that was most likely due to her forgetting to eat before leaving the house that morning.
Rissa landed in a clearing between giant bushes in the small garden park across from Grimmauld Place. This is where she had been staying for the past six weeks. It was different from her home back in Romania. Different in the fact that she was living there with her boyfriend's family, along with two other members of the Order; Remus Lupin and the owner of the dreadfully awful home, Sirius Black.
The weirdest part about this living arrangement was that her boyfriend was not there with her. Charlie had to stay in Romania for his job. He worked as a Dragonologist at the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary. His job was to study the large reptilians and figure out what made them the way that they were. It was his avid determination to make them more of a commonplace topic in mainstream wizardry that drew Rissa towards him.
It was there at the Sanctuary where the two had met. She had just started working as the correspondent for all dragon sanctuaries in Europe. Her job was to travel between the colonies, making sure that they had when they needed and see that everything was running smoothly. Although she traveled a lot, she maintained a permanent residence just a few minutes from the Romanian colony.
She was working from her office about a year ago when a bruised and bleeding Charlie had stumbled into the administrative building looking for paperwork. After patching him up and finding the correct forms for him, he asked her out on a date. Being new to the area and not knowing many people, she happily agreed. Within a month the two were dating and have been happily together since.
She had been stuck in London for the most part, but still had to travel every ten days to check up on her job. Being in the Order and traveling constantly made it hard for her and Charlie to talk, but they made it work. It was a struggle trying to balance everything, but Rissa wouldn’t give up either of her jobs for the world.
One of the best things about being back in the UK was finally getting to meet the infamous Weasley clan! She absolutely adored Charlie’s younger siblings.
Fred and George were a hoot! They were excellent at cheering her up on the bad days. And much to everybody’s surprise she was able to tell the two apart after only knowing them for an hour.
Ron was a tad bashful towards her, always blushing and stuttering whenever she talked to him. The twins found his crush on her hilarious and never let him live it down. Rissa found it cute.
Out of the four siblings, it was Ginny whom Rissa was the closest to. Both females were the only girls in their families. They bonded by doing each other's hair and Rissa giving the younger girl advice on any number of topics.
She hadn’t met either Percy nor Bill yet. Bill was busy working at Gringotts as a curse breaker, but he would be joining the Order at the end of the week. She was excited to meet him.
Percy on the other hand she was not looking forward to ever meet. Ginny had clued her in to the drama of the third oldest sibling. Whenever he was mentioned, Molly would burst into tears and Arthur would get a soured look on his face.
Speaking of the two redheaded parents, Rissa had only the best things to say about them! When Charlie had first broken the news about one of them needing to join the Order and that he wanted her to go, she was nervous as hell. Not about potentially going head to head with Voldemort and his followers, but of meeting her boyfriend’s parents! Alas, all her worrying was for nothing. From the second that she stepped into the house, the two had made her feel nothing but welcomed and loved.
She often assisted Molly in cooking for everybody. Together the two of them never let anyone go to bed any less than stuffed. Whenever Arthur had a question about muggles, the half-blood witch would answer happily and give long explanations that only brought up more questions.
The other two occupants of the house she was not as close to. Remus was nice, but not much of a conversationalist. He could be found during any downtime sitting in the library reading. Sirius, on the other hand, hardly ever left his room, always brooding about the fact that he couldn’t leave the house. The few times she had talked to the curly haired man, he was nice enough to her and cracked jokes.
Rissa walked out of the bushes and through the wrought iron gate. By the time she had crossed the street, the dark foreboding presence of house number thirteen had finished revealing itself to the world. She opened the char coloured door, being mindful to not awaken the portrait of Mrs. Black that hung in the entryway. She continued inside of the house and moved past the stairs, seeing a moving plastic ear being dangled between the banisters.
“Now I know that you five aren’t trying to eavesdrop on the meeting, are you?” She asked into the device while looking towards the culprits. There leaning over the second floor landing was none other than the four redheads that she had come to love over the past month, plus the bushy brown hair of one Hermione Granger who had arrived earlier that week. The five teens shared a collective panicked look before glancing towards the twenty-two year old below them.
“No no dear Rissa! We’re, uh, cleaning the cobwebs out from between the railings, you see.” George tried to say convincingly, and failed. The blonde raised brow at the lame excuse, but decided to play along for fun.
“Cobwebs, yeah. Well I suggest finishing your task quickly. You mother should be making her rounds to check up on you guys soon. We wouldn’t want your ‘duster’ to get confiscated.” She sent a wink towards them, letting them know that she was only just playfully warning them.
Quick smiles were thrown at her as the ear retracted to its owner's hand. Then the sound of ten feet was heard making their ways towards their bedrooms, followed by three doors closing.
Rissa let out a long quiet laugh as she made her way towards the ground floor loo to freshen up before the meeting started. If one thing was true, it was that the house would never be boring as long as there were Weasleys inhabiting it.
She heard the front door open and close twice while she was in there, and the third time as she was drying her hands on a hand towel. As she was putting the cloth in its proper place a loud crash came from the hall beside her. Rissa’s favorite Order member had arrived.
The blonde opened the wooden door to find the Metamorphmagus on the floor, tangling in various pieces of clothing and the coat rack next to her. Rissa laughed at the teal haired witch struggling to get out of her confinement, but was soon drowned out by the harpy-like screaming coming from one Walburga Black. This wasn’t the first time that Tonks had accidentally triggered Mrs. Black’s screaming, and most likely wouldn’t be the last.
Sirius came bounding through the meeting room door’s as Rissa was helping her friend to her feet. “Shut up you old hag!” He yelled at the portrait of his mother. She retorted back with a bunch of hateful things that Rissa would never repeat for any reason; awful things about Remus, the Weasley’s, her son, and even Rissa herself.
Rissa led Tonks into the meeting room as Sirius was recovering the portrait. There inside of the narrow rectangular room were the other order members: Molly and Arthur, Remus, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mundungus Fletcher, and Rissa's former professors: Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, and Albus Dumbledore. Tonks and her took their seats as Sirius strolled in and closed the door. Once everybody was settled Dumbledore began. “Here we are again. Another week, another meeting. Let's start with you Kingsley, how is everything going at the ministry?”
Kingsley’s deep reverberated voice replaced the slow methodical before it. “Everything is the same. The minister is being very adamant about keeping any talk of You-Know-Who being back, gone. He will be giving another statement to the Daily Prophet tomorrow, talking about how Harry is lying and that you are out for him.” Kingsley paused. “I'm sorry that I don't have better news.”
Dumbledore nodded at him, then looked over at Remus. Remus straightened in his seat and cleared his throat before speaking. “Nothing unusual at Privet Drive, quiet as always. Harry does seem to spend a lot of time at the local playground. I spoke to Arabella Figg before leaving last night. She said that Petunia keeps Harry busy by being outside doing chores. I can only assume that he goes to the playground to escape his family. He looks healthy and is staying out of trouble.”
“If he’s anything like James, that won’t last long.” Sirius dryly joked from the end of the table. Everyone laughed, except for Snape who had his ever present scowl at the other end of the table, glaring at the other dark haired wizard.
McGonagall let the laughter die out before speaking. “I’ve been in contact with the members who were unable to attend today. They have all reported that their marks are being unusually quiet, but that everything is also alright.”
Tonks spoke up from beside Rissa. “The same with us! As you all know, I’ve been shadowing Auror Moody for the past few months. There isn’t so much as a peep out of You-Know-Who’s higher ups. Lucius Malfoy hasn’t even been to work in a few weeks, he’s about to lose his job.”
Rissa cast a glance at Snape from the corner of her eye. The man had yet to say anything, not that he ever said much of anything short of insults. It wasn’t uncommon knowledge that he had been a Death Eater during the first war. But there were very few that knew he still was, as a spy for Dumbledore. In fact there were only three: the man himself, Dumbledore, and Rissa.
Rissa wasn’t supposed to know anyhow, but had learned by complete accident. She had been reading in the library when the two wizards walked into the room to talk, not knowing that she was sitting in the high back chair next to the fireplace. Snape had been updating the older professor on something the Dark Lord was talking about when the book on Rissa’s lap had fallen to the floor, making a loud thump. To say that the all parties in the room were shocked would have been an understatement. That day she was not allowed to leave that room without making an Unbreakable Vow to never repeat what she heard.
Snape’s eyes caught hers before she could look away. A person's eyes are said to speak more than their mouth ever could, and Snape’s eyes said “Remember the vow, or I'll kill you slowly and painfully.” If she could have snorted without gaining the attention of everyone else in the room, she would have. She wouldn’t have to worry about him killing her, breaking the vow would kill her itself.
Rissa finally pulled her blue eyes away from his dark ones before speaking. “Same thing on my end. I’ve been watching the muggle bookstore that Jacqueline Brownstone frequents when on torturing sprees. There has been zip, not so much as a drop of dark magic in almost four weeks.” She paused, giving the others time to digest the new information. “I think this whole situation is very odd.”
Molly looked over at the young woman confusedly. “What exactly do you mean, dear?”
Rissa sat back in her seat.”Well think about it. For the longest time there was constant activity from everyone we watched. We were all bone tired from lack of sleep and running from place to place. Now? There’s radio silence, from all parties. I think that Vo-, You-Know-Who , is planning something big.”
The group mused over her words. They spent the next half an hour finishing up their relays and trying to figure out what Voldemort and his followers were up to. There were a few times, like when she was relaying, that Rissa almost slipped and said his name instead of You-Know-Who. She wasn’t scared to use it, not even close. But she knew that some of the other members like Molly grew upset at the name, so she had to catch herself.
The meeting came to a screeching halt when the nails-on-a-chalkboard voice of Alastor Moody came flying into the room in the silvery light ball of a patronus. “DEATH EATERS IN THE LONDON UNDERGROUND. THE MINISTRY IS HIDING. NEED EVERYONE HERE.” The eleven adults watched as the ball faded out of existence before jumping into action.
“Molly, you stay here with the children. Contact the rest of the Order and inform them of what is happening and to be on standby.” Dumbledore spoke calmly. “Everyone else, please grab your wands and cloaks. Remember to keep your face hidden, the Ministry cannot know about us.”
They all left their chairs and began moving quickly. Rissa, Arthur, Sirius, and Remus ran upstairs as the rest hurried out of the front door to get past the apparition wards. If they hurried, they would all arrive together.
Rissa knew that Dumbledore would have Snape stay back, couldn't risk him being exposed for working both sides. That was one man down. Mundungus was a weird little man who didn’t want to be in the Order in the first place, but Dumbledore needed him for some reason. There was a high possibility that the odd man would flake out on them and make some excuse later. That left eight people plus Moody against an unknown number of Death Eaters.
Rissa heard the kids come out of their rooms as she entered her room on the third floor. “What’s going on?” A very confused Ginny asked standing in the doorway, the other four looking just as confused behind her.
“Death Eaters are attacking in the underground. We’re going to put an end to it.” Startled gasp came from Hermione. She hasn’t been around long enough to get used to the hustle and bustle. Ginny had a frightened look on her face now. “But what if you get hurt?” She said with a shaky voice, very unlike her normal one.
Rissa paused looking for her cloak, which was not in its usual place in the wardrobe. “Hey now.” She walked over and pulled the younger girl into a hug. She placed her hands gently on the pale wet cheeks of the girl she had come to see as a younger sister. “You listen to me right now, all of you. Everything will be fine. I know that everyone in the Order will have my back, especially your father. Just like I will have his back. Have faith, the light side will always win in the end.”
She motioned her arms for the others to join in. The six stood hugging in the doorway for a few moments before letting go. Ron then pulled his sister into a side hug and was quietly whispering to her as Rissa looked for her cloak. She finally found it on the floor half hidden by the drapes.
She was putting it on when Fred looked up from his teary eyed younger sibling. “Please be careful, Rissa. We would all go crazy if something happened to you, especially Charlie.” She sent him a warm smile before exiting out of the room and running back down the stairs, leaving the five teens standing on the landing.
She met back up with the three men on the stoop in front of the dark house. They quietly sped-walked over to the park and into the clearing where she had been just an hour earlier. The four linked hands and apparated away.
When they landed, it was in an unknown puddle in what appeared to be a mens loo. She looked around in disgust as they exited the room and began jogging in the direction she hoped was the correct one.
“Are mens loos always that gross?” she asked aloud. Remus, who was a few paces behind her, answered slightly out of breath. “Yes, but more so the muggle ones.”
She shuddered in horror. “I hope I never have to be in one again.”
“What would you be doing in the men's loo in the first place-” Sirius was cut off by the sounds of an explosion followed by multiple curses being thrown. They had found the fight.The quartet round the final corner to find nothing short of mass chaos.
The Order had designated colours for each member. So that in the event of a showdown the members could identify one another when their faces were covered.
Dumbledore in his grey cloak with blue trim was dueling two Death Eaters at once. Moody was a few feet away, his wand whipping about his black trimmed grey cloak with Tonks protecting his back in her purple with black trim cloak. Rissa, who’s cloak was the opposite of Tonks’, went and stood beside McGonagall’s brown and green form.
Rissa engaged in the battle with her own Death Eater. The person was most likely a female based on their body structure, and the designer heeled boot that they wore.
The sounds of battle were all around her. Rissa heard Mcgonagall get hit beside her, but couldn't look and see if the older witch was alright.
The masked female in front of her was putting up a good fight. Every spell that Rissa sent was blocked, followed by one being sent back. It was almost like a dance. When one person stepped, so did the other. They spent over ten minutes slowly circling one another, curses and spells being sent constantly. To any outsider, it would look like a real life version of the muggle video game ‘pong’.
Rissa heard a cry come from Tonks ten feet to her left. She mistakenly looked over out of reflex to check on her friend. That was a mistake. The white hot sting of a curse hit her dead in the chest. She let out a blood curdling scream, alerting the others that she had been hurt.
It felt like her skin was getting sliced off of her body in microscopic pieces while rubbing alcohol was being poured on it.Tears flowed freely down her face, but she bit down her screams. She refused to distract her companions, no matter how badly she wanted to.
The battle seemed to be coming to an end. Only two Death Eaters were left standing, both of whom’s masks had fallen off. Lucius Malfoy and Jacqueline Brownstone.
Sirius and Moody were fighting the platinum headed man together. The two fought well, both having been trained in the Auror program at one point. They used the same moves and moved together in sync.
Meanwhile Arthur and Tonks were taking down Brownstone, the one who had cursed Rissa. In the end it was Arthur who got the last spell that took down the caramel coloured witch. Rissa watched as Brownstone collapsed on the floor next to the unconscious form of Malfoy. The witch gave Rissa an evil smirk before grabbing the collar of her companion and apparated away before Tonks could reach her.
“Holy shit, Rissa!” She heard the panicked voice of Sirius exclaim. Through teary eyes she saw him,Tonks, Arthur, Remus, and McGonagall surround her bleeding body on the floor. She heard her former professor casting what she assumed were healing spells over her, but it sounded like the woman was a million miles away.
The last thing she saw before closing her eyes was the worried eyes of her boyfriend’s father as he caresses her blonde locks.
Warmth. That was the first thing Rissa noticed as she regained consciousness. It was cocooning her. Not the burning heat that she last remembered her body being in, but like that of sitting too close to the fireplace or drinking hot cocoa.
Rissa slowly opened her eyes. She was laying in the bed she had claimed while living at Grimmauld Place. It was dark inside the room, the only light coming from the pale moonlight peeking in through the partially opened drapes next to her. They swayed gently in the wind coming in through the open window behind them.
She figured out why she was so warm; Rissa was covered in what felt like ten thick woolen blankets. Knowing how Molly was when it came to the well being of those she considered family, this was most likely her doing. Rissa could only hope that she would be half of the woman that mama Weasley was in the future.
A snore sounded from a few feet away. A figure sat sleeping in the chair in the corner of the room. It was a sound that she was very used to and had grown to miss while being away; Charlie was here with her.
A fond smile grew across the woman’s face, quickly being replaced with a devilish one. Rissa reached behind her head and grabbed one of the many pillows, also courtesy of Molly, before expertly chucking it at the ginger head of her lover.
She hurriedly got situated and pretended to be asleep when the man awoke startled. Through her partially opened eyes he saw him rub his eyes and pick up the frilly pillow that had fallen to the floor. He looked towards her but she didn’t move a muscle, struggling to fight back her giggles. He then got up and started heading for the door looking very confused. It was then that her facade crumbled.
Rissa couldn’t hold back her giggles any longer. Charlie turned back and saw her sitting up in the bed, trying not to laugh like a hyena and wake up the entire household.
“Oh, Rissa!” He said lovingly. He quietly bounded towards her and brought her into a bone crushing hug. The small of his shampoo and faded cologne washed over her like a tidal wave, making her tear up. It didn’t matter that she was technically 25 hours from her house, she was home again.
The lovers were quiet as they embraced each other for multiple minutes. After what felt like forever and not long enough simultaneously, the two broke apart and locked eyes for a prolonged moment before Charlie spoke again.
“I was so scared, love. Dad and Remus came to get me, told me what happened in the underground,” Charlie paused, a catch in his throat. “We weren’t sure if you were going to make it. Mum couldn’t get the bleeding to stop. It took her, Professor Dumbledore, and Bill to figure out what that woman hit you with and how to stop it. You’ve been unconscious for almost two weeks.”
Thick tears rolled down his freckled cheeks and into the bead on his chin. It was the most facial hair she had ever seen her boyfriend have, and it was sexy as hell.
Rissa shook her head trying to get that line of thought out of her head but made a mental note to tell him how much she liked it later. She cupped his face and said, “I’m sorry for worrying you, my love. If I had any inkling how bad the battle was going to be I would’ve been more careful.” She was sobbing now. “I’m so sorry!”
It was Charlie’s turn to grab her face. He placed an emotion filled kiss on her forehead before replacing his lips with his own forehead. His hazel eyes met her blue ones. “Now you listen to me, Marissa, and you listen well. This. was. not. your. fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent what happened. You know why?” He asked. She shook her head when he didn’t immediately keep talking.
“Because it was Brownstone who cast the curse, not you. You couldn’t have known that she was going to use that specific curse at that specific time. I’m just so happy that you’re alive.” Another kiss on her forehead.
Rissa entwined her hands in his wavy hair, pulling him closer. Their lips met and all of their emotions were poured in it. The worry, sadness, hope, belonging, love, it was felt. It was raw and it was powerful, and it was home.
The couple lay in bed for the rest of the night talking. When Charlie informed their boss about her being injured and him needing to leave, the Swedish man all but apparated Charlie to London himself. He told Charlie to take a few weeks off to take care of her. It was the things like that that made Rissa love their little community back home. They were a family.
She now had three families; the one she was born into, her work family, and the Weasley clan.
If there could only one thing Rissa would take from this experience, it would be that no matter where she was in the world, she would always have someone that loved her dearly.
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OCs:
Marissa 'Rissa' Hemmingway
Jacqueline Brownstone