All on the table

"I know that, Susan," Jack said quietly. She glanced up as someone entered - James. She offered him a bracing smile and looked about, "You all remember James, I suppose? Nice to see you back." He took a seat and she resumed her discussion. "But you're right, Susan. And we all need to keep that in mind. We are not aiming for utopia, and we cannot have an unrealistic ideal in mind. Once our purpose has been fulfilled, once the streets are safe, we will relinquish any hold we may have. That means we will withdraw our influence from the Ministry, from others. We are here to facilitate safety. With that, please, does anyone know of somewhere our services may be needed?"

Neville had told Susan he wasn’t going to come put he decided to come. He couldn’t help Hannah at all. Only healers could do that. He hoped this would serve as a stress reliever. He was sure he looked horrible. He hadn’t slept all week, hadn’t eaten much or do much of anything. Susan had to pull him out of the room earlier today to go eat. He was twice if not more of Susan’s weight but yet she got him to move.

“Sorry I’m late. I wasn’t even sure I was going to come but someone pulled me out of the hospital room,” said Neville pointing at Susan. He loved to tease her. She sat down next to Susan. The leaders just keep getting younger. Either this would be brilliant or a fail. What did he care? He was barely part of the Order anymore. It was rather useless. “People need to be on the streets. Twice Susan has gotten attacked. The Death Eaters are targeting certain people now and they are going after people of high influence. I’m not convinced that whoever gave my wife those potions wasn’t a Death Eaters. I had never seen that Healer before. Trust me I’ve been there a lot between godchildren, myself, my wife, friends and my own children,” said Neville. Could he have made that speech any longer? Hell, he was in his forties and still not good at talking to people. He gave up trying to get better at it when he was sixteen.

Jack looked up at Neville, nodding and excusing him for his initial tardiness. He began to recount his tale and Jack nodded. "This is the world I'm talking about. Anyone who says it is as it has always been and is not safe is wrong, or they have not been among the masses for a very long time - evil is accelerating."

Something was stirring in her mind, a strange thought. But she must let that form a little. First she would deliver the plans she had formulated before arriving. "I'd like to provide resources for vampires and werewolves. Fulfilling their needs may reduce their need to attack. I'd like to do a blood drive for the vampires, and begin a resource center that distributes blood and wolfsbane."

She was almost certain someone would laugh, but it was a serious matter to her. "They lash out on the innocents because they have no proper outlets. I think this is very important."

She paused. "I also think it is important for each of us to meet our enemies, involve ourselves in the lives of Death Eaters." She looked around. "Everyone of of them must be hiding something from their leader. Look at the Order - we each have these circumstances that put us on the defense. It's why we've quarreled for so long. I don't care what wrong you have done, so long as you are helping us strive to the good. Perhaps if we can disrupt the unity of the Death Eaters, we can weaken them. They each have their weaknesses, and they are the embodiment of evil. They have their loved ones, their doubts, their reservations. Let us remind them of that."

"Do you suppose people will be willing to donate blood to the vampires?" James asked, leaning forward slightly, "or are you planning on using synthetic blood like what has been made available to them at Hogwarts?"

James didn't personally know any Death Eaters, so he figured his interest should be more aimed at this surprising turn of Jack's meeting. He knew that vampires were unsatisfied with the synthetic blood which had been developed for their consumption, and he was sure she was aware of it too. Had she thought of something he hadn't? James had little problem with the super-natural creatures of their world, but the project still worried him slightly. He knew that there would be vampires and werewolves out there who would refuse the aid of wizard-kind.

"I don't mean offering up necks or anything," Jack said, realizing how important it was to clear this up. She often forgot the difference between what was common knowledge for wizards and what was common knowledge for muggles. She had meant an old fashioned muggle blood donation.

"It'd require people donating a pint of their blood at a time. We'd have to invest in a sterile storage facility, but I could easily convert part of my store into one for the time being. We don't need the entire wizarding world to donate. Just a few at a time until we get the place on it's feet. They wouldn't need to even interact with the vampires."

Susan had to speak up. First off, she didn’t really want to work so closely with vampires, not all are bad but she still didn’t trust them. Secondly, Ernie despises them, she wasn’t ready to strain their relationship again. Lastly, she can’t donate. She noticed Neville right away and knew he’d fell to same way. He liked vampires maybe a tad more than Ernie.

“You can’t require us to give blood. I honestly can’t give blood but nor do I want to. I like my blood inside my body,” stated Susan firmly. This was one thing she would not comprise on. Her blood was to stay in her body. Even if she wasn’t pregnant she still wouldn’t do it.

Jack said, "I wasn't intending on requiring anyone anything. Like I said, this is something I would like us to do." She looked at Susan. "I understand if you don't want to, but I also want everyone to know this is not a whim or a nice service - this is a measure that prevents vampires from getting so thirsty for blood that they turn on whoever is closest. 'Whoever' can easily become our friends, our families, ourselves. I hope you ll understand that I am not asking this lightly, asking as though it does not mean anything and as though it doesn't go towards anything. This is a necessary prevention our society means and, if you can't give blood, I hope you understand how much we'll need some support."

July 4th 1995

Albus Dumbledore Showed up on my doorstep today obviously hoping to catch me in a good mood. He told me that you know who had returned and then asked me to join the Order. I reluctantly accepted but only in a unofficial capacity.


Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He had only been here twice. Once during the first wizarding war. And once during the second. He never had been truly part of the Order so he was not asked to come to meetings. This time however was different. He was a full member now. He could hear voices from the kitchen. They were talking about blood. Strange how important this liquid was to humans. He guessed that when one had been drinking it for 250 years the importance of it faded slightly.

He entered the kitchen. He found an empty seat and sat. He didn't want to interrupt them. Just yet anyway.

Jack looked up as Nathan Mills entered. She smiled and said, "Ah! Here we are. I hate to put Nathan on the spot here, but we all need to get comfy with each other anyhow." She squinted about, trying to keep her smile as far from sarcastic as possible, but not doing so well with it.

"Nathan, we're discussing the potential of a vampire closet for blood. Citizens donate and vampires can get blood for free. Your expertise would be highly appreciated. A few of our associates worry that there is no reason to get the vampires on our side. What do you think?"