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[Chapter Eleven: Wristbands]

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Silence filled the room, Dumbledore continued, "I understand if you do not want to take the risk of joining us in this fight. There are great possibilities of getting injured or even killed."

"Professor Dumbledore . . ." Began Marlene, "Aren't we a bit, erm, young for this? We haven't had any training, we're still in Hogwarts. Plus, we're bloody seventeen!"

"And eighteen," Chimed James, grinning at Sirius who rolled his eyes.

"Yes, you are all very young. Including Mr. Black." Said Dumbledore, chuckling at the boy's antics. "Though, you all won't be young forever. Soon you'll be out of this school, leaving all of you without unconditional protection."

"Which means we'll have to fight," Chimed Remus, speaking up for the first time since they were all called to the office.

"That is correct, Mr. Lupin," Said Dumbledore, a smile on his lips. "Now, I will give you a few days to decide, seeing as it may be difficult for some of you.

At that, he was looking pointedly towards Aspen and Marlene making them both question him silently. Though, as if he was reading their minds, he stated, "For the two of you who made it in the French Academy, you'll have to choose whether or not you'd rather stay and fight in the order, or go to France instead and work for the ministry. Sadly, you cannot do both seeing as we are acting as vigilantes without the Ministry knowing of our identities. We'll have to keep anyone working with us out of the ministry."

"But didn't you say Alastor Moody is in the order too?" Asked Marlene, shocked at the two options she and Aspen will have to face.

"He told us he'll be our instructor at the French Academy. Wouldn't that mean he's both in the order and working for the ministry?" Asked Aspen. Something seems fishy, he just told the group something they're not allowed to do—even though he's letting other people do it.

"Yes, Ms. Lee. Moody was one of the people who helped found this group." Informed Dumbledore, "So it only seems fitting to allow him in the group. Plus, he is trained at withholding information, meaning he'd be able to withhold the secret of our Order."

"I'm in," Sirius stated almost immediately, getting panicked looks from his friends. Especially James and Remus who were looking at him like he was crazy.

"Mr. Black, wouldn't you want some time to think about it? This is a very important decision that impacted your life greatl—"

"Yes, Professor Dumbledore," Continued Sirius, "I had no idea what I wanted to do after graduating from Hogwarts. But now, taking down the evil in the world appeals to me. So I definitely want in!"

"I'm in too!" Marlene chimed, Aspen looked at her with surprise. She assumed Marlene would've wanted to think about the decision first—seeing as she just got into a freaking Auror Academy. Then she remembered she barely knew Marlene, and had no right to speculate about her. "Yes, I've been wanting to get into the French Academy for a really long time," She said, closing her eyes at the last few words. "But I want to join the Order and take down V-Voldemort and his death eaters! Rather than do a bunch of unproductive things until I'm trusted enough by the ministry to actually do meaningful stuff."

"That's great, Ms. McKinnon," Dumbledore smiled. "Though my statement still stands, I believe you all should take some time and think about all the responsibilities before your final decision. Hopefully, it will be the right decision."

"Yes, Professor, " They all obediently replied. Aspen couldn't believe she hadn't denied the offer yet. All her life she wanted to become an Auror to avenge her mother, but then one new offer pops up and she's debating? What would her mother think about her betraying her promise to kill the wretched wolf that killed her? Then again, if she joined, would she be given the task to take down Fenrir Greyback? Seeing as the werewolf directly affected her.

"Great!" Professor Dumbledore stated. He stood up with a kind smile on his face and opened his door to allow the students to leave. They followed each other in suit to leave but right before they left, Dumbledore offered chocolate frogs which both Remus and Aspen accepted. Once they officially left his office, they were all left in silence. For some reason, they didn't separate from each other—nor did they mind Aspen joining them in their silent debate as they walked back to the Gryffindor common room.

Hopefully they noticed she was still there, at least? It would be awkward if they didn't realize she was still blankly following.

Halfway to the common room, James began whispering with Sirius which resulted in a whispered argument. Lily and Marlene also got into a tiny whispering fight leaving Remus and Aspen as the only ones who weren't fighting. Although, Aspen understood why they were fighting. Even though Sirius probably couldn't see it, James was fighting his best friend entirely with concern. Lily was most likely fighting Marlene about the French Academy.

"Aspen!" Called Marlene, it was clear that she wanted to ask her something because Marlene stomped over while pulling an irritated Lily over.

"Yes?" Aspen asked, rubbing her wristband-covered arm. The morning before, she decided to put on some of her wristbands again. Of course, not all of them like she normally did, just a few that were big enough to cover what she wanted to be covered—but small enough to not be as apparent.

"What are you choosing?" She asked, now walking beside the shy girl. "To become an Auror where you'll have to listen to orders from corrupted wizards, or going an Order to take down the dark wizards who the Ministry are too cowardice to take down?"

"I erm—" Started Aspen unsurely, when Marlene put it like that, the Order sounded more appealing for what she wanted to do. But working for the Ministry as an Auror would be actually legal, and with everything she did she wouldn't have to have to look behind her back every other minute in case there was a ministry agent ready to arrest her.

"Don't make her choose already, Marls!" Scolded Lily, slapping her friend on the shoulder at her bluntness.

"Yeah, if she wants to go to the academy, she can do it." Chimed in Remus, "It was probably hard to get accepted. But if she wants to join the Order, she can do that too."

"Thanks, Remus," Mumbled Aspen, blushing. Marlene nodded and continued walking, now silent. They didn't have to walk much seeing as they were already in front of the common room portrait.

"What's got you looking miserable?" Asked the Fat Lady. She was specifically looking at James and Sirius, though the statement went for all of them seeing as they all felt and most likely looked miserable.

"None of your business." Spat Sirius with irritation. "Chimera."

"Alrighty then, Grumpystilskin!" The Fat Lady hissed, "And to think I was going to wish you a 'Happy Birthday!'"

The portrait swung open and the group shuffled into the room, immediately heading towards the couch. Of course, Aspen complemented the Fat Lady's hair first, she always did that so the Fat Lady wouldn't rat her out for sneaking out at night to get food or hang with Myrtle. Once they got to the couch, glares from both James and Sirius caused anyone who was sitting on it to jump off in fear of the angered expressions. After apologizing to a little girl, Aspen sat down at the end of the couch beside Sirius who wanted to be kept away as far as possible by his best friend.

Suddenly, as Aspen was about to get up and leave so she could think inside her dorm, someone positively streaming appeared in front of the group. Instead of looking at any of the prankster boys, they were looking at Aspen fuming. That 'they' was Wendy Collins.

"Where have you been?" Asked Wendy, her accent deepening with anger. "You were gone for like, two hours! Plus, I had to do some brats homework because I had to hide your little Nutcracker! That little thing is a menace!"

"Wendy!" Warned Aspen, great, she just outed her Nutcracker secret. "I was talking to Professor Dumbledore, you know that."

"For two hours?" She asked, pointing at her wrist which was occupying a muggle-invented watch. "Then you just come here to hang out with them? I thought we were best friends!"

"Stop being so dramatic, Wend," Sighed Aspen, blushing at the amused expression the other teens were giving them. "Dumbledore was talking to them too, we've all just returned. I was about to come to the dorm and, erm—get you. So that we could go get the books."

Everyone was watching the two with amusement. It was refreshing to watch the shy girl speak to her best friend without a barrier. It actually showed that she isn't only the shy girl everyone thought she was. "Why were you all talking to Dumbledore?" Asked Wendy, now scanning the whole group and everyone went red under her gaze. For one, they didn't know if they were allowed to speak of the Order. Second, Wendy's gaze was frightening beyond comparison.

"Uhhh—" Began Aspen. She couldn't think of anything to say, though, and didn't want to lie to her best friend.

"I don't think Dumbledore would want us to talk about it." Said Lily, making everyone point to her. When Wendy was about to respond, the Fat Lady portrait swung open violently. In ran a girl who looked to be in her first or second year. Her face was streaked with tears and her hair a mess. She looked familiar, yet Aspen didn't know how seeing as she doesn't remember ever seeing the girl before.

She attempted to run up the stairs, but instead, Wendy blocked the stairway causing the girl to crash into her. "Move!" Ordered the kid, attempting to run by. Wendys larger figure was able to block any path the girl attempted. By now, Aspen and the rest of them were alarmed by the girl.

"Hey!" Yelled Lily, "Calm down sweetie, we don't want to hurt you."

"Leave me alone!" Cried the girl, what was making this girl so upset at everyone?

"Hey! It's okay, just tell us what happened." Aspen whispered, kneeling in front of the short girl who was about a foot and a half shorter than herself.

"You want me to tell you what happened?" The girl asked with a hysterical laugh, the group exchanged looks. "Why don't you just look at the Daily Post?!"

Without warning, she pulled away from the group and went under Wendy's legs, up the stairs and toward the dorms. Wendy was surprised by the small girl going in between her legs but everyone else was curious as to what happened. Sirius finally regained himself and walked over to a girl, snatching the paper out of her hands. Though, she didn't mind as she was too busy watching his backside while he walked back toward the group.

"Oh my," He said with a gasp after reading the paper.

"What?" Lily asked for the rest of the group. Sirius stood shocked and silent, looking at the newspaper.

"Padfoot, what happened?" James asked, attempting to look at the prophet.

"Malinda Beau, Ned Beau, and three-year-old Megan Beau have been found dead inside of their small cottage in Isleburg, London." Sirius read, leaving the group to gasp. "Leaving three Hogwarts attendees' orphans in the midst of a dark night."

"Jay and Colby Beau." Aspen whispered. The boy who got accepted as an Auror, and his deceiving little brother.

"What about the third child?" Wendy asked, her eyes drooping with sadness. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if her whole family got murdered. She couldn't even imagine someone even wanting to hurt an entire family. Even a toddler!

"That must've been her," Aspen responded, pointing up the stairs toward darkness where a broken girl once stood.

"Wait, did you say Jay Beau?" Marlene asked, looking directly at Aspen. "As in, Jay—the Slytherin who also just got into the French Academy of Aurors—Beau?"

"Oh, he must be feeling terrible!" Stated Wendy after Aspen nodded sadly. "He must've wanted to tell his parents so badly about getting in, only to end up finding out they're dead."

"Does it say who killed them?" Remus asked. Sirius looked over the page again but found no way of identifying how they had died.

"Wendy . . . " Asked Aspen, "When was the last time you saw Colby?"

"Oh my!" Said Wendy, wide-eyed. "He was in the library, he may most likely still be there."

"Well, let's go!" Aspen ordered, she wanted to check and make sure the boy wasn't grieving alone. It wasn't like she didn't have faith in his family that were still at Hogwarts, but seeing as his sister just ran up the stairs without him, she didn't know if his brother, Jay, reacted the same in the midst of his grief.

"What are you guys doing?" Sirius yelled after the two. Yes, it must've been sad but who even was this Colby? Didn't they say that his brother is in Slytherin? How could they know if Colby could be trusted? They just saw how rude his sister was . . .

"Going to Narnia!" Responded Aspen, running through the portrait hole and leaving the boy baffled.

What the hell was Narnia?

After a long walk of anticipation towards the library, they finally arrived. Wendy directed them towards the table where she last saw Colby but found no one. Barely anyone was in the library, the girls assumed he was gone. Though, last-minute, Aspen heard a noise coming from a different aisle. She grabbed Wendy's hand and walked over to find two boys sitting on the ground.

The first boy, who Aspen identified to be Colby, was laying all the way down. He was sleeping on another person's lap, though he still looked miserable by the tear streaks that stained his pink flushed cheeks. The other boy, Aspen, identified to be the boy from earlier, Jay, was awake leaning against the books, he was silent as tears rolled down his freckled cheeks.

Aspen barely even knew the two boys, actually, she didn't even know one of them. But still, the sadness covering their faces made Aspen want to cry herself. "Jay?" Wendy asked, breaking the silence. The boy looked over to the two girls and wiped his cheeks immediately. He sat up as much as he could without waking his brother and raised his eyebrow to ask what they wanted. Wendy grabbed Aspen's wrist and they both moved to sit in front of the two boys. "We know you don't know us," She started, "Though we did meet Colby earlier today. He's a sweet menacing lad—"

At what Wendy called the small boy, Aspen hit her. She shook her head and apologized for her friend's rudeness. "We just wanted to make sure you're alright."

"We're as alright as someone who lost most of their family can be." Croaked the boy sadly, rubbing his little brother's shoulder. Colby was whimpering in his tear-induced sleep.

"Right. Stupid question." Said Wendy, for the both of them. "Do you . . . know what happened?"

At the bluntness of the question, Jay raised his head with wide eyes. Even him being a Slytherin he would never ask that type of question. "You don't need to tell us of course!" Aspen added quickly. "Actually, just forget we even asked!"

"No, no it's alright." Said the boy kindly. He looked to the ground sadly and continued, "They won't tell me how it happened."

"Really?" Asked Wendy in surprise.

"Yup, apparently they'll tell me when I'm older." Said Jay in a mocking tone. "It's pretty funny seeing as I'm both of age and about to become an Auror."

"I actually have an idea of how it happened." He added before the other two could talk. Intrigued, the two sat up and he continued, "Ever since I was young, the dark lord, Voldemort, has supposedly been after my family. My parents never confirmed it, but, there have been rumors saying that's how my aunt and uncle were killed. Now, I guess, that's how my Mum, Dad, and little sister died."

"I'm so sorry," Said Aspen in sympathy. She was trying so hard to keep the tears back, though Wendy didn't try at all because her face was soaked with salty tears. "They're the only reason why I applied to be an auror," Jay laughed. "Take down Voldemort before he takes down my family. Though it seems I was a little too late."

"You still do have a family." Aspen pointed out. She was looking directly at the sleeping Colby, though her expression also mentioned their sister.

"I guess I do." Croaked Jay, he pulled his little brother closer and closed his eyes as he leaned his head back. After a few moments of thinking, Aspen decided to tell the boy about something. Something she shouldn't be speaking about around anyone besides the group Dumbledore told it to. Not even Wendy.

"Jay?" Asked Aspen in a serious tone.

"Hmm?" Hummed the boy, looking up at the girl in front of him, whom he had just met that day.

"Have you ever heard of the Order of the Phoenix?"

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AUTHORS NOTE:

Aspens great at secret-keeping. (:

posted: February 2, 2018
word count: 2,960