Making A Stand

It was a compelling urge, but Albus still resisted it. Pacing up and down the room suggested agitation, and Albus did not wish to present himself as a person, a leader rather, who was unsure of himself. Decisiveness, confidence, assuredness….those were the traits he wished to exhibit today. Of course, he could never become one of those exuberant politicians who waved their hands back and forth, frantically speaking, he was quiet by nature. Well, not any more. Now was the time to seize the bull by its horns, so as to speak.

He cast a glance about the place. A dimly lit, clean hall, with a long wooden table and rickety chairs around it. Not an impressive sight, by any means. But this had been one of the safehouses of the Order in the past, which meant there were foundations for protective wards already, and what Albus was beginning to undertake wasn’t exactly Ministry-approved. All invitees had been sent a note, along with a time-triggered Portkey, which would transport them to the porch of the house. The meeting was to be held in the entrance hall.

Albus sat on the chair at the head of the table, propped his elbows on its smooth wooden surface, and steepled his fingers. Would people come? Would anyone come? And even if they did, would they agree to be led by a twenty-one year old?

Albus was surprised to realize, that it didn’t quite matter to him. He would go ahead with this. With support, or without.

Jack was almost sure she would be first. Which was good. Because she thought she had a pretty good method to cheer Albus up.

She walked up to the Headquarters, the smug pride of a prank soon to be carried through riding confidently inside her. Her hair had been shortened with a very simple spell, a hat pulled low over her eyes, sunglasses donned, and a robe that hid any hint of a feminine figure.

But the kicker. The kicker.

She slipped inside, pumping a fist as she realized she was the first to arrive. She spotted Albus and approached, reaching up and twirling her fake mustache. She dipped the sunglasses so Albus could see who he was facing. "Here to support you, mate. And, y'know, rock my 'stache."

Albus didn't quite know whether he should laugh or cry.

Here he was, all coiled up and ready like a cocked-up pistol, practically wrenched up with tension, steadying his posture, practicing his words inside his head. And here....here this absolute buffoon of a red-haired maniac wearing sunglasses and twirling a.....a.....bloody moustache...

The smooth surface of the table was looking wonderfully attractive now. He could so, so easily slump and slam his forehead against it, or even better, knock the head of one Jaquellene Dyllan against it repeatedly in the hopeless wish that it would knock some sense into her.

Albus shot his best glare at her, all scowling face and flashing eyes. "Charmed, really. Now if you're done behaving like an absolute idiot, do sit down Jack, or I'll be tempted to kick your ass out of here." He turned, propped his elbows on the table again with a loud clunking sound, and folded his fingers. It wouldn't do to appear ill-composed before an audience, if they turned up.

((I know I said she wouldn't be reconized but you just brought that moustache in and...*flails hand helplessly*...and I couldn't resist. I'll change it if you want.))

((No, the point of her pulling the sunglasses down was so he could see her. xD ))

Ooh, Albus looked mad. Which meant he was secretly incredibly amused by her, frankly, funny-as-hell antics. When someone was nervous and you did something that they thought was funny, they almost immediately got pissed off.

It was science.

She grinned at him, pushing the glasses up. She could hear someone coming in, so she quickly hissed, "Just because I can grow one..."

She smirked and sat down in the least conspicuous place and put her disguise back in place. It was actually convincing, really.

Screaming pain was all he felt today. The curse left on him by Grindelwald never would go away, and he had been holding it back for far to long. The pain wasn't physical but mental. An unlocking of every emotion, thought, and memory all at once. He was at Hogwarts one moment killing Voldemort. The next he was being stabbed in the gut by Matthew LeStrange.

To top things off he came back earth to mid way through port key travel. He could feel multiple spells and enchantments probing and prodding at him. Testing to see if he was friend or foe. He doubted others could feel it unless they knew what to feel. Magical enchantments was something he worked with on a daily basis.

He blinked. He was standing on a porch of what he guessed by the level of enchantments was a Order safe house. Ironic that a rebel meeting was to be held in the house of the enemy. He entered into the entrance hall and was greeted by a table. At the head sat Albus Potter. And with him was someone that Ne'Os didn't recognize. Though he had a strange feeling they were familiar.

He gave Albus a small bow before taking a seat at the middle of the table. He was interested to see how others would respond to someone so young claiming power. Then again, Ne'Os was much younger than he looked.

Susan couldn’t believe she was doing this. She was a mother of five kids. She had almost been killed once already. Her father begged her not to get part of this but she had to. She felt like the Ministry wasn’t protecting her babies. They weren’t protecting her family. If no one else would protect her family she would die doing so.

She had to sneak out of her home in Berlin to come. Ernie didn’t want her doing this either. She was tired of being the perfect wife, perfect mother and the perfect daughter. She wanted to be free like she was when she was seventeen. She was going to make it happen one way or another.

She promised Hannah and Neville she’d come for them. They were too busy with their lives. They had a bar to run. Neville told her to sign them up for anything that could help. She was going to do the same for herself. She wasn’t sure what was going to come from this but she decided to just go with it. Even being here made her wonder if she should move back to England and just face whatever is going to come. She had only gotten a lease for three months and it was nearly three months. She’d just have to see I it better to be here or there after this meeting.

Susan entered her yellow cloak standing out like a sore thumb. She had gotten many odd looks coming here. Yellow is quite bold these days. Since when did she fallow fashion? She liked her yellow cloak and wasn’t going to get rid of it anytime soon. Her eyes analysed the group. She knew all three people right away. But these days it was hard for her not to know anyone. The one thing she regretted the most was getting into media. She wished she could get out of it but she refuses to work for Ministry, it’s nearly been destroyed from what her Aunt Amelia had once helped build. “I’m guessing this is the place to be,” said Susan her cloak swaying behind her.

((Sorry I'm so late. Neville will be posting next meeting, it's hard doing both Susan and Neville))

Vivianna found herself on a porch. She hadn't been exactly she where she'd end up. The invitation hadn't specified, but that was to be expected. Looking around the area where the portkey had dumped her, the Slytherin noted that this was certainly a decent location. In other words, someone involved was filthy rich and tricky enough to get a place like this with no record trails, or this was an Order or Death Eater haunt. The second would mean that people were putting aside that war to temporarily worry about this one. Which could be... interesting.

The teenager had nicked her own invitation. She'd followed two whispering people from Diagon into Knockturn after hearing a few words and phrases that had caught her attention. While listening in, she got the general gist of what the invite was for, and that the two weren't interested. In fact, the female was terrified about being in any way connected to the group. Being the helpful girl she was, Vivianna solved that problem by plucking the gestured-to letter out of the open pocket of Elsa's robe.

If asked, Vivianna would just say that she was a friend of Elsa's, and that Elsa had not been interested, but she had. Well, friends might've been stretching it, but all that mattered was the same. Using her strengths to her advantage, the witch had brewed and drunk an aging potion. The teenager looked to be around twenty now, and that was the age she would go with if asked.

Stepping into the large room, the redhead found herself scanning for faces that might know her. Satisfied when there were none, she strode forwards with a confident strut, and took a seat.

People turned up. They actually turned up.

Albus breathed deeply. The inhaled air contained various scents, predominantly that of aging wood. No one was talking, there were slight rustling sounds alone to indicate presence of people other than him. They were looking at him, waiting for him to speak. Albus propped his hands, palms down on the smooth wood, and lifted himself up. He glanced, very, very briefly towards Jack. Then he looked ahead, and no fear could be glimpsed in his eyes. This was the moment of truth.

"Welcome." His voice was quiet, yet it rang through the hall. "I thank you for coming, whether invited or....not." At this, his gaze flitted to the other auburn-haired woman on the table. A slight smile flickered on his features; the grapevine seemed to be working already. Soon, the only thing the Wizarding World would be able to talk about would be the rebellion. "Some of you may be a bit...surprised at the variety of allegiances you can spot at this table." His gaze flickered to Ne'os Emof and Jack simultaneously, "but I say only this: the Rebels are neither Dark nor Light. We have no guidelines, no requirements except....." A strategic pause. "Except a blinding desire to bring the inept thing we call a government, down."

"I assume all of you assembled here share my contempt of the Ministry. But hating it isn't enough. What we are doing is potentially against the laws, illegal. So if you aren't committed to the vision, if you still have some doubts," Albus's eyes flashed momentarily. "I suggest you leave now."

Ne'Os nodded slowly at what Albus had said. Of course the law was not his concern in fact it meant nothing to him. This fight was personal. He knew that he would be hunted for the rest of his life unless he fought for it. He cleared his throat slightly.

"I don't know about the rest of you. But I will be alive for three hundred years. As the ministry stands now, I will be hunted and studied for the rest of my life. My kind is a mystery to you humans. We have magic you can't understand," He said his voice projecting around the room. He suddenly got more quiet as he stared down at the table as he spoke honestly. "I have a woman I love with all my heart. She is the only vampire that can have children. She is the future for my species. I would die to protect her."

His voice grew again with burning intensity as he stared straight into Albus's eyes his own turning pitch black from the uncontrolled release of magic into them because of his anger. "And this current ministry will one day intend her and my children harm, and I cannot allow this to happen. I will serve you until death mister Potter."

His voice floated about the room he chuckled slightly. "Its funny. I never imagined I would utter that phrase. Let us hope that those words don't turn sour. Else you will run the same route as your father, and the man who killed him," he said the end turning slightly cold. He hoped the threat would be taken seriously. He often wondered how the wizardry world truly saw him. The only wizard to truly kill Lord Voldemort. The wizard who broke the prophecy. The hero who was rewarded with a trip to Azkaban.

Jack sat still and quiet as everyone entered. Of course, Ne'Os was here. It would have been too simple if he had not been here. Jack swallowed back her anger and made a decision, right there, to ignore all Ne'Os had done for this particular cause. Once they had reached their objectives, she would be the first to call for his imprisonment. But, until then, she just needed to wait.

The others were Susan Bones - good woman - and another woman that looked familiar. She must have seen her around Diagon Alley or something. She turned her eyes to Albus and his eyes briefly found hers. He could not see past her glasses, but she allowed the corner of her lips to twitch upwards to try and provide him some comfort. And with that, he began.

Naturally, Jack would not be the one to be off put by breaking laws. She had done plenty if it already. She tried to keep herself from rolling her eyes as Ne'Os spoke. He was always the kind to pretend to be all-in, and he would be the first to desert if it meant gaining power for himself. Jack would not let him off the hook easily.