Chapter Seventeen
Welcome to the Club
Headquarters:
Order of the Phoenix
Five Days Later
Minerva McGonagall watches with wide eyes as the most notoriously perpetually late Sirius Black makes his way into the meeting room. She can't help but wonder what has caused Sirius to want to arrive early for anything; he was even late for his N.E.W.T. exams. She continues to watch as he makes his way to the front of the room, sitting in the same seat James, Lily, and he had sat in during the last meeting. She knows from the conversation she just had with Albus, that Remus Lupin is expected to make his first appearance tonight, having been only released from Evan's care just a few short hours ago. Long enough, it seems, for Remus to quickly change and come here to the meeting. At this thought Minerva finally understands just what caused the perpetually late Sirius Black to arrive almost an hour early for a meeting. A record for him, and something Minerva never thought she would ever see within her life time.
****
Sirius Black sighs impatiently as he all but flops down into the chair he had sat in the last meeting. He shifts in his chair wishing time would accelerate and Remus would show up already. He hasn't been able to think since he received the letter from Lily about Remus being with Evan, though he hasn't been as worried as he had been, he knew Remus was safe, just not with him. He had been disappointed to learn the first time they would be able to see each other would be at this meeting, so here he is early for a change. He exhales explosively as his left leg starts to bounce up and down rapidly. He pauses in his nervous nature as he hears the door to the meeting room open, turning in his chair, hoping to get a better view of the entry, hoping the person entering is his dear friend, well one of them, only to be sorely disappointed when Mr. and Mrs. Diggory walk into the room. He quickly takes in their overly stuffy look, as a cringe of distaste crosses his features as he sees Mr. Diggory dressed in a slimy green robe and Mrs. Diggory in an overly pinkish cloak covering a flowery type robe, all in all, rather a disgusting sight to see.
Sirius's opinion of the couple is widely known and he does nothing to change this fact, for him it is just that, a FACT. With a groan of distaste he turns back around to find a slightly amused Minerva McGonagall watching his reaction to the Diggory's entrance. He is then puzzled when McGonagall shakes her head at him. "What," Sirius asks defensively, and then shrugs slightly at her raised eyebrow. He's so caught up with his interaction with his former Professor that he almost jumps up and out of his chair as someone places a hand on his right shoulder, causing Professor McGonagall to snort in amusement. Cursing audibly as he glares at the Professor, only to then ignore the Professors antics as he looks up to determine the owner of the hand ready to curse the person who was able to pull one over on him, only to smile widely.
He immediately stands up, takes the proffered hand of the man behind him, who is just slightly shorter than himself, and pulls the man into a hug that would rival one from Mrs. Weasley, "Moony," Sirius says into the prematurely graying brown hair, "Don't you ever scare me like that again," he growls out sounding almost like his dog form. He pulls back slightly taking in the appearance of the man before him and he is pleased to see Remus looking better than he has since his Hogwarts days, he then quickly pulls him back into another hug.
Remus Lupin smiles into the embrace, "Sorry Padfoot," he whispers in answer.
Sirius pulls back and looks his friend over, "You're really okay," he asks cautiously almost fearfully.
"Evan made sure I didn't even get a scar," Remus reassures Padfoot with a smile. Remus looks passed Sirius for a moment to see Professor McGonagall watching them; nodding his head slightly in greeting he returns his attention to the man before him.
Sirius raises an eyebrow at this comment and decides against questioning his friend about it now, though he knows he will be questioning him extensively about it later. Sirius smiles as he looks Remus in the eye, he figures he might as well ask now, "So Moony my dear friend, where are we sitting today?" The blunt question shocks both Minerva and Remus.
Remus looks over Sirius's shoulder to the Professor as though to ask if she knows what Sirius is talking about, receiving no help from the Professor he looks back to Sirius, "Sitting," he asks with a questioning look upon his features.
"Are we or are we not, now part of the Protection of Evan Knight Club," Sirius asks the smiling Remus as he raises a questioning eyebrow as though Remus was gong insane.
Realization crosses Remus's features as he hears this, "Oh we are," Remus answers instantly with a huge smile as he nods his head in agreement.
"Very well then, let's head back to the back where the rest of the Club sits, but I'll be damned if I'm sitting next to Snape," Sirius says as he all but drags Remus from his place and back into the aisle. As they get into the aisle Sirius takes Remus by the shoulders and all but directs him to the rear of the room as he marches the two of them, Remus in front with Sirius following directly behind him. Minerva watches them walk away from her and she can only shake her head at the way the two of them are. She knows they aren't related by blood but they are related by the stronger force of their brotherhood. She smiles as she listens to Remus trying to greet everyone as they pass, even if Sirius isn't giving him enough time to say hello.
****
A few minutes later Lily and James enter the meeting room, they make their way to the front of the room not too surprised not to see Sirius there, but they are surprised not to see Remus, Mr. Always-On-Time, already here. At least James is surprised by the lack of Remus's presence, Lily; however had a feeling that Sirius would have come in earlier than he ever has before so she starts to look around.
"Why isn't Remus here," James asks in confusion as they stop in the aisle.
Lily is finally able to look at the back of the room, her eyes instantly lad on the missing person in question, "Their over there James," she says with a smile forming on her face as she ignores his James's questioning look as she points to the back of the room where Sirius is currently talking to Remus, his hands waving frantically as he speaks.
James slowly turns around, the confusion evident in his stature as he looks away from Lily. That is at least until his eyes settle on the person he had just asked about, but not only that, he sees Sirius there as well. James knows what the meaning of them sitting back there is, as the meaning fully settles into his shocked mind he turns back around to look at his wife hoping he won't have to ask. He knows that since both Remus and Sirius are sitting in the back, they have now joined with the others to protect not only Evan's secrets, but his privacy as well. He knows that for them as for with himself, that Evan has saved his brother's life this past week and his wife's life at the battle at Hogwarts. The two of these things are enough to convert his beliefs to that of the Club, even though he still doesn't know how to deal with the question Evan asked him back at Hogwarts.
Lily takes in the pleading, almost puppy dog look in her husband's eyes. This causes her to laugh, "You don't have to ask," she says with a shake of her head to the man before her, "We're joining as well," she confirms for him with a laugh. Only to instantly have the air pushed out of her lungs as she finds herself receiving a tight hug from her husband. Before she has time to react, James pulls away slightly, only to give her a soulful kiss. Not that she's about to complain or anything.
The couple slowly separate from their kiss only to hear two people making catcalling sounds from the back of the room. Lily instantly throws the amused pair a glare that never reaches her eyes, shaking her head in resignation she allows James to lead her to the back of the room. Once they reach the row containing the sniggering duo, they quickly make their way to the two, only for Remus to stand up and greet the pair with a hug in greeting. When the two are satisfied with Remus's appearance and greeting, they pick up the two coats that were saving them their seats, at least that is what they decided the coats were for, as they hand Sirius his coat and Lily teasingly tosses Remus's his.
"What took you so long," Sirius teases as they sit down next to him.
"I was just getting attacked," Lily teases them.
"We kind of noticed," Remus says with a slight chuckle.
"How are you Moony," James asks worriedly, changing the subject as he tries to hide the slight blush flushing his features at their teasing.
Remus chuckles softly at this maneuver, "I'm fine," he says with a smile. Taking in the disbelieving look from James he shrugs slightly, as though he expected the disbelief, "Evan took great care of me," he says as he sits back in his chair and raises his arms slightly as though to say, 'look ma, it don't hurt'.
Sirius looks down at Remus's stomach, "We can see that," he says as he reaches over and pats the area he had just looked at.
"Ha, ha, ha Padfoot let it never be said you aren't observant," James says as he shakes head, rolling his eyes.
Lily shakes her head at this and decides to change the subject once again, "How is he," she asks hesitantly.
"Homesick," Remus answers seriously and honestly. "Very, very homesick," he repeats slowly as he shakes his head sadly knowing his words pale in comparison to the harsh truth.
"So what was it like in the Palace de Knight," Sirius asks teasingly.
"Immaculate," Remus says honestly. "Everything has a home, nothing is out of place, and talk about a library," he says with an admiring gleam in his eyes. "There are books there I've never heard of," he continues with admiration, his voice taking on a dreamy tone.
Before anyone else can make a comment about Remus's description, the meeting starts. "Thank you all for coming this evening," Albus says to the gathered group as Molly sits down next to Remus only to be followed by her husband and her two eldest sons. The addition of the three Weasley males is surprising to the collected group. Next to Molly, is her husband, then Charlie and Bill Weasley; Melissa Malkin is next to Bill, then Tom, quickly followed by Severus Snape, thus ending the Protection of Evan Knight Club members.
Albus looks over the gathered group; he realizes this is one of their larger gatherings, even if the seating is sporadic. There seems to be over fifty people in attendance this evening, he then looks at the back row and everyone can see the twinkling in his blue eyes increasing almost ten fold. "It seems we have a significant increase in the number of members in your group," he says looking the original group in the eyes, only to receive slight nods in agreement of this observation. "Back to business," Albus continues as though the meeting had been going for a long amount of time. "About two weeks ago, Remus Lupin uncovered some very startling news," he says to everyone there. "It sees William Thomas, the new DADA Professor is actually a Death Eater," he says to the horror of everyone, well, not everyone, since Lily, Remus, James, Sirius, Minerva and Dumbledore knew before now. "Mr. Lupin almost lost his life to bring us this news, luckily this was not the case," he says as Remus stands up, knowing this is where he is to pick up his part of the tale.
"I was being chased by a group of Death Eaters, I took to the forest after being stabbed in my side," Remus says as he points to the previously injured side. "I continued to run, hoping to get the information out, but as the trees finally broke into a clearing I had lost too much blood and energy to continue," he explains to the listening group. "I collapsed knowing death was upon me and there was no way for me to warn any of you of this danger," he relates almost stuttering as he recalls how close he cam to death. "That is until Evan Knight showed up," he says to the shock of all but a select few. "Evan asked me where I could go. I told him I couldn't return to Hogwarts, so he took me to his home," he says surprising most of the people gathered. "Evan was able to heal my wounds and he helped me to recover, thus allowing me to be able to inform all of you today of the traitor amongst us," he says finishing his report and sitting down.
Mrs. Diggory looks back at the standing form with a sense of distrust, she is one of the more open supporters of werewolf suppression, she is sitting in the seats that Sirius had vacated before the beginning of the meeting, "What did this Evan have to do with your attack," she demands as she glares hatefully at Remus.
"Nothing," Bill Weasley says as he stands up. "Evan Apparated to a point just touching our wards, at a run mind you," he continues as he sits back down.
"Running," Minerva and Flitwick ask as one, both are flabbergasted by this statement.
"Running," both Bill and Charlie confirm in unison.
"That's not possible," Moody growls as his magical eye swivels to train on the two mean as though able to see them lie.
"He did it," Bill says with a shrug, "And can that boy run, wooh," he adds on with raised eyebrows as Charlie sits next to him nodding in agreement.
"When we made it to Evan, he had already picked Remus up into his arms. We didn't know who the injured man was, but we could tell it was bad even before we saw all of the blood," Charlie says continuing on from where Bill had left off.
"Anyway," Bill says taking over once again, "Shortly after we arrived a blue glow engulfed the two of them and they," he pauses as he shrugs, "they disappeared," he finishes lamely. He then turns to look at Remus to find Remus looking back at him in shock and deep interest.
"We didn't know it was you," Bill and Charlie once again state in unison.
"Understandable," Remus says wanting to put to rest any possible guilt the Weasley boys' might harbor for what happened that night. "Thank you for tell me that part," Remus continues with a soft nod, "I will have to have a long talk with Evan," he says more to himself than anyone else. "A very good talking too," he repeats and then he notices the look of question in the two boys eyes, "He claims to have found me by accident," Remus answers, the amusement clear in his voice. He pauses a moment to think about it, "Though I wonder what he calls accident or not," he muses to himself and the others have to agree with him. He looks over in Lily's direction, a far off look on his face as he sits forward slightly in his chair, "I believe he saw it and doesn't like to admit to it," he adds on more to himself than to anyone.
"He doesn't like that much," Molly agrees with a knowing nod.
"No. He doesn't," Remus agrees with his own nod, and then he looks to the interested Albus, "What are we going to do about this Death Eater," he asks trying to get the subject off of Evan Knight.
"We're going to monitor him now that we know who and what he is," Albus answers.
"Just fire him," Mrs. Diggory demands.
"If I were to simply dismiss him without provable probable cause, then the Minster will come in and try to run the school. We can't afford for that to happen. Therefore, we must wait for William to make a mistake," Albus says to them, not noticing he has adapted to his Professor's voice, not realizing he had almost sounded like he was reading the words verbatim from a text book.
"Which means we might need another DADA Professor any time now," Sirius asks totally amused by the curse of the position and the number of people who try and teach the class. "It seems no one wants to stay," he teases just before he gets smacked in the arm by Lily as she reaches across her husband to reach him. "Hey," he nearly shouts in mock pain rubbing his arm.
"I'm afraid I must agree with you," Albus says with a nod and an amused twinkle in his eyes.
"I still say we offer it to Evan," Sirius says loudly as he pretends to talk to Remus confidentially.
"Actually Sirius, he's more than likely over qualified for the position," Remus says in return to the shock of his friend.
"Over qualified you say," Sirius questions disbelievingly, "How can anyone be over qualified to handle a room full of sniveling brats," he pauses, "Oh, sorry Snivellus, I wasn't meaning you," he says as an after thought.
"By being a kid himself," Remus says with a shrug, ignoring the glares being passed between Sirius and Severus.
"Well his very presence commands respect," Sirius says as he pauses, "from most people," he says as he remembers what he was told about that day.
"Commands," Remus repeats disbelieving and a little offended on behalf of Evan, "He wouldn't like that," he confides with his friend.
"What's not to like about it," Sirius asks in mock disbelief.
"Evan is just not that way," Remus explains, "he hates the attention, he'd much rather prefer to hide in the shadows than be seen," he says to his shocked friend, to the shocked room.
"But," Sirius gasps in shock, "Does he know how to have fun," he asks serious for once.
"With his friends and family," Remus says sadly.
"But isn't he here alone," James asks in confusion his eyebrows furrowing.
"Very much so," Remus agrees sadly.
"Why is it limited to his friends and family," Sirius asks confused.
"He's very shy," Remus says with a small smile.
"And honest," Severus adds on. "However I must say I'm about to make the biggest mistake of my life," he says to the shock of everyone there. "By actually agreeing with this Black twit here," Severus continues as he throws a glare at the figure he is referring to. "Evan would make a great DADA Professor," he finishes adding his input to the seemingly unofficial questionnaire Sirius had started by suggesting Evan for the position, even though he might have put his own opinion out in the open anyway.
After a few moments of whispered disbelief amongst all present, Albus makes his presence known again, "Now," he says as everyone turns to look at him. "The next order of business is the lack of attacks made by Voldemort and his followers, does anyone have an idea what he is planning," he asks and thus the rest of the meeting was spent talking about this strange new strategy of the Dark Lord.