Order of the Phoenix Meeting 17

Jack groaned. Jess did not understand- she had not gone for a swim under Loch Ness. She had stayed under water for hours, being dragged by the monster into caverns and coves and caves- she had found lost gold treasure in the waters, for bloody sake! She slid in her chair, lolling her head against the back of the chair, vastly irritated.

Michael volunteered and she sat up. She could deal with Michael. Mari was volunteered- at least Jack sort of knew her, but she did not know enough about her to know if they would get on well. She'd let them both sit on the shore while she zoomed down to the cove- there had been plenty of water flora to deal with. She could see Michael sitting on the shore with a bottle of wine and waiting in case Jack sent out a distress signal.

"Fine," she said, turning to follow Michael. Jess' words stopped her and she turned. "I don't know- I'm an official Ministry worker, I know short cuts." Jess' look told her otherwise though. She sighed and slumped against the wall, Accio-ing her drink in defeat. Ah well. However, Robert wove them off and Jack glanced at Jess. "We can be back in under three minutes flat." She looked at Michael, letting him know she was turning it into a race.

Jess sighed and nodded, waving his hand in a sign of defeat, if they wanted to leave they could do whatever they wanted, if they wanted to sit there and moan and groan as he asked them to do things, they could do it, he didn't really care all that much.

"Right. Angus it is. Obviously he can't meet us here in the morning, so why doesn't he meet Damon, Rose and Anna at the three broomsticks tomorrow at about... 7. The rest of us can meet here at 6 before apparating away, does that sound agreeable?" He asked

Robert watched Michael and Jack leave, or presumably so. Hopefully that would ease Jess's irritation. Robert understood them both. Jess wanted some sort of sense of decorum. Decorum just wasn't part of Michael's DNA. Michael detested it. Michael wasn't trying to be disobedient. But Michael had been working on his own since he was a small boy. He was always willing to help, but he did it far better, with far less resistance when asked rather than told.

Robert himself wasn't sure about this new atmosphere he saw Jess trying to set. While he understood it brought more organization and legitimacy to the Order, part of what had made the Order strong for so many years was that it had always appeared to be fueled largely on love and friendship and family and bonding. If Jess could merge the two concepts, Robert felt Jess might well have a good new direction for the Order. But formaily without the Order's primary foundational elements might be very risky indeed. Whatever Jess was up to, Robert hoped it worked, for the sake of the Order.

"Jess," Robert said, trying to ease things a bit by redirecting the conversation now that Michael was at least most likely out on the Grimmauld sidewalk, "there is no reason whatsoever why Angus could not be here first thing in the morning. He is always up by 4 am. I see no problem with it. If you want him to meet the rest here, then he'll be here. If you still prefer Hogsmeade, no problem. Why don't you let Michael and Angus bring the largest portion of the gear--the tents and food and such? That will free up the others to bring whatever personal items or equipment preferences that they might have."

"I don't mind going wherever you send me as long as i am of some use and not just getting in someone's way." Mariana said after a while after thinking about what everyone was saying not understanding the Loch Ness mania after all they would be equally useful anywhere else.

She considered another thing for a few moments and made her decision not needing long to decide. "And i guess i will offer my services to St. Mungo's. If healers are sick you are seriously out of hands." she added quickly not really caring for giving any other opinion on anything else that she could not change.

"But he's not a member of the Order, that's why he can't just meet us here," he replied to Robert, a hint of confusion entering his voice, the Order was not just a come and go sort of service, and though Jess knew that Robert was not trying to imply that it was, he felt a pang of resentment, similar to the one when Jack and Michael chose to just up and leave the meeting on his instruction.

"Heavy packing will not be an issue, you are looking at the Charms professor, after all. I have quite a few bags prepared with undetectable extension charms, and packed with survival gear. Ever since the last attack here, I've always been prepared to flee at any given time," he informed them with a smile. "Angus will meet us in Hogsmeade, the rest will meet here, he finished, before looking over at Mari.

"I'm pleased to hear that. I expect the Loch to take considerably less time than the Forbidden forest, so if you, Jack and Michael have no objections, I'd like you to meet back up with the rest of the searchers in the forest," he explained, deciding to leave the matter of St. Mungos to Robert, after all, that was his grounds of expertise.

He then flicked his wand, only to be met with a crash from the hallway - the door to the cupboard under the stairs had not opened, as he had intended it. A fleeting frown followed as he waved his wand once more, this time muttering an incantation under his breath, and summoning the bags to the kitchen. "Blue ones have cooking supplies, the two green ones have tents. They all have pillows and blankets, and room for your own gear. If you wouldn't mind returning them when we're done, that'd be appreciated," he told them, pulling out his watch and nodding. "Otherwise I think we can all agree that we need a good night's rest. Does anyone have any questions or anything before we leave?" He asked

((Right, so here's the OOC explanation. I'll be creating two threads in WWR with the founder account, which will act as a GM (One for Loch, one for Forest). For those unfamiliar with the role of the GM, it basically controls the things you don't - when paths appear, when lights turn off, when beasties appear, what it was you've stumbled upon, times of day. What you do with this information is entirely up to you of course. If you've any OOC questions, please add them at the end of your IC replies (Oops, aren't I a poor example...) The stuff about meeting here in the morning is just for show, we don't need to start another meeting in the house here, we'll just go straight to the topic. I'll PM links out and I expect you to try and make them top priority for your replies, as we want to keep this ball rolling.

Hope that you enjoy this

Jess))

Mariana did not need Jess's camping gear as she had everything she needed in her purse with a little help of charms. She carried it around now and always for precaution. "I have no objection, i shall go where i am needed. How long will this trip last more or less?" she asked needing a general idea to organize her time and her patients.

((sounds good Jess))

"Probably two or three days, if not longer. I'm sorry to take you all out of your comfort areas, and to place you in such unfortunate circumstances, but I think we can all agree that this is of considerable importance not only to each and every one of us, but also to the Wizarding World as a whole," he repeated.

The mission would be dangerous, he suspected. Although it seemed fairly straightforward to him, there was every chance that this might go wrong, and something was telling him that everything was not as it seemed, for how often did such a destructive, and such a specific virus just crop up out of nowhere? Sure, new diseases arose all the time, but normally they were just stronger strains of something else. This was new, this was different, and it was deadly.

He refocused on what he was doing at the meeting, deciding he'd worry about the origins of the disease later. "Well then, next meeting I want to talk about the change in relationship with the Death Eaters, as well as recap whatever happens during our hunt. As you all know, the alliance with the Death Eaters is no longer in effect, so we need to rethink our strategy when it comes to them. If there's no further questions," he paused, scanning the room quickly, "then lets be off. Good luck, and I'll see you all next time - I'll be in contact the usual way," he told them

Marcus arrived. Just as he was about to go on his break from the Ministry, Jess' patronus appeared out of the blue. "Hello everyone. Sorry if I'm a bit late," he said, announcing his arrival. As soon as he saw coffee on the table, he walked straight over to a mug and poured himself some. The sweet warm liquid immediately woke him up and put him in a better mood.

"So what'd I miss?" Marcus said. Quite a few people were there and he was embarrased at his tardiness. Though the work on his desk was piled to the top, he still had to come whenever that patronus shined, so that excuse was crushed.