Leaning back in the high-backed chair, her ankles crossed behind the leg, one elbow rested on the chair arm as her face leant on her upturned hand. Once again nothing was getting done. This small, secret community were not working in harmony at all and their plans for helping Apollo with his task were not coming to fruition in any way.
It had been months. In fact if she thought back, she was pretty sure it had been almost a year now since they had all met for the first time. Carys still didn’t know many of their real names, but that was the point. They were safer if they didn’t know. She knew some members, obviously. She had gone to school with a few of them and others she knew because of her status in the Wizarding World itself. But some of them, specifically those that were more than two years younger than her were practically strangers. For all she knew they could be like her.
She twirled a strand of vibrant red hair around a lone finger as she watched the chaos unfurl in front of her. She would have to get involved eventually. Stop this madness before anyone got hurt, she really wasn’t in the mood to actually be healing anybody even if it was her job. But as second-in-command of this bumbling band of rag-tag misfits at least they would listen to her if she rose and told them to shut the hell up. For the moment though the rising voices were giving her the chance to observe the other members.
The younger women, the ones she was sure were new graduates of Hogwarts, had all banded together in one corner. From the looks of things they actually were working on the mission they had been given a few weeks earlier. They had pulled away from the round table the group normally convened at and seemed to be discussing their progress, no matter how non-existent it was. She was proud of them. It was nice, for a change, for someone in this group to actually be doing something.
To her left sat people she actually did know, and if it wasn’t for the fact that their hands were clasped together, and their heads were leaning towards each other as if to block out the world she’d be surprised that Sirius wasn’t involved with the current chaos. Instead he was focused more on Marlene. It had taken him long enough to admit his feelings for her. Years, by her count. She was happy for him, ridiculously so, but it would be nice if they actually took time away from each other to focus on the problem going on right now.
As she looked across the table she caught the eye of their leader. Diarmuid looked just as irritated by their lack of progress as she was, if not more. Added on top of that he just looked exhausted. His work at the Ministry and this entire issue battling against his father was slowly turning him away from the bubbly, upbeat, mythology fanatic she had known as a teacher.
This was the first time she’d seen him in three weeks, their work schedules giving them no time for personal time. She missed him, she did. And she really needed to get some potions down his neck to make him look better. She shook her head slightly as he winked at her, obviously having watched her observations for the past few minutes. Tilting her head towards the rabble, she raised a slender brow in question.
His lips pursed for a minute before he slowly nodded and smiled in appreciation.
Sighing softly she finally rose from the chair that she had sequestered herself in over an hour ago. She took a deep breath before her quiet voice rose over the crowd.
“Everybody. Sit. Down. Now.”
After her order you could hear a pin drop as the remaining members rushed back to their seats, those working in the corners returning to their spaces to listen to her. Staying stood she placed her hands on the table and looked around at all the faces individually. She had the attention of every single person in the room.
“I know that you’re all scared. This is not going how we planned and we’re struggling. The war is raging around us and many of us are involved in that as well. People are dying. Some that we love, some that we don’t. Some that we have known for years,” Her eyes flickered towards the couple on her left and the man seated in front of her, respect shining in his eyes. “And some that we may have just met. But I can tell you one thing right now. I refuse to believe that it will all end like this.”
She took a step back and circled the room, weaving around different members. “We may be a bunch of misfits,” she smirked in Sirius’ direction as she heard a snort leave his body. “But we are also fighters. We all joined to fight for justice, to save our kind. Pure-blood, half-blood and muggle-born alike.”
She came to a stop next to Diarmuid’s chair, her hand resting on his shoulder giving him a soft reassuring squeeze.
“If you’re out, you’re out. None of us will blame you for leaving right now and spending whatever time remains of your days left with your family. But if you’re in, then you can proudly say that you fought until the end. Because one day it will end. But not without our input. We are fighting for the future, for our children, for our family.”
She took another roving look around the room. “So, who’s with me?”
For a moment there was silence and in that split-second Carys’ heart dropped. And then a cheer rose through the ranks, every member climbing out of their seats to applaud her courage. To her right, her fellow ravenclaw rose to his feet, suddenly towering over her and wrapping his long muscular arms around her tiny back.
“Thank you, Artemis.”
She smiled softly as she buried her face in his neck, a blush obviously covering her entire face. “All in a day’s work.”
