Changes - Order Meeting

Things had changed for Jack. Things had changed for everyone.

Jack called a meeting ahead of time to ensure that everyone could be there. Monday morning the messages went out, and Friday afternoon was the set time and date. She had chosen the time specifically so she knew most people would be off, and those who weren't could make arrangements. It was not a meeting to be missed, and she wanted everyone there in the hopes that she would not have to repeat herself. Getting the words out once promised to be hard enough.

It was in the kitchen, as each meeting always was, and she had brought extra Butterbeer and Firewhiskey this time. She had already finished her second mug of the latter when people began to arrive, and was well on her third when the last person slipped through. The clock struck the assigned time of six o'clock, and she looked around the room, taking in each face. There were those who were smiling, those who were tired, those who looked ready to fight.

She briefly wondered what sort of expressions Dumbledore had looked upon. She knew that times had changed, society had evolved. The Order could not take the preemptive risks they used to. The atmosphere was too political, and the Order was too well known. They would have all been in Azkaban if they had been doing what needed to be done. Jack's solution was probably going to upset more than a few people, but it had to be done.

"Thank you all for being here today," she began, her head turning as she took everyone in. "I'm very pleased to see you all here because I have a few important matters to discuss and... I'm just glad you've all stuck around to hear me out."

She blinked and flattened her palms on the table. "I am stepping down as leader of the Order. I have no qualms about anyone here, I just no longer think I am serving our community properly in this position." She paused for a moment, but forged on before any interruptions were made. "I will be asking a few to join me in a new endeavor that I think will make some positive changes, but it is something I must do on my own and not as an Order action. I hope, however, to work in conjunction with the Order and the Order's new leadership."

She allowed a small smile, turning to look at Hallie. "Hallie will be taking over. Hallie has shown the incentive that I believe is absolutely necessary for the job, and I support her all the way. We've discussed the future of the Order and, along with the usual aims of promoting peace, we would like to make it a training ground to make sure you are all prepared to defend what it right when the times comes. Matthew Lestrange will be coming on to help Hallie in assisting in your training, so I hope you all will help them make the transisition easy." She looked around. "It's a lot of information, and I've done more talking that I ever like to do, so if you have any questions, please say them now." She paused again, looking from face to face... "The time I've been your leader has meant a lot to me."

On Friday at six o clock the Order meeting would be taking place, Jack Dyllan's last meeting as the faction leading. Hallie had only ever known Jack to be the leader for she had joined just after Dyllan had been handed the honorary role. During her time Hallie had kept up to date with happenings with the Order, granted they had been on the down low but the faction had made advancements.

Firstly they, particular Lupin and her associates, had aided in the protection of Hogwarts during the time bewitchment of Thaorson Elldir and invasion of the rouge Blood Pack.

The Blood Pack remained a target to the Order. Khaat Lupin had been abducted by members of James Blood's pack. They'd locked her away in his house, in the headquarters of the pack. There the witch was forced to give birth alone and hide her children. The Order had teamed up with the death eaters on a rare occasion where their objectives were shared.

That day Hallie had once again arrived at the scene as part of the Order, following the opportunity to rescue Khaat Lupin from her prison. Successfully Hallie, with the help of Marcus Belby, had secured Lupin and her children before apparating to their safe house. It was that day Hallie really began to become confident in her abilities. She had the Lupin's trust and approval. That day, the moment she realised how in danger the Lupin's were Hallie knew she wanted to continue with the Order, try and make the country a safer place for the family that had done so much for Wizarding Britain.

After the last Order meeting Hallie took it upon herself to arrange a meeting with Gideon Pierce, new deputy minister. It had been new grounds for the blonde, acting, not something she'd had to do. None the less the trainee auror walked hand in hand with the challenge arriving at the deputy minister's office with a cover-story. She'd formed a few questions about her pregnancy that could come in use in her act as the conscientious trainee auror.

Her act worked. Worked more than Hallie could have predicted. She'd originally gone just to get a feel for Gideon, see if she could undercover anything about his character. Never did she think that she'd leave the office with a promotion and copies of a confidential document about Levski's research and plans for the marriage law.

Hallie had passed the information onto Jack Dyllan via owl. The information was in her leaders hands and Hallie had no doubt Jack would know exactly what to do with the snippets.

That night she'd fell to sleep with a smile on herself, proud of her efforts and the success of her mission. For Hallie had helped uncover a piece in the puzzle to the marriage law. It seemed, if the document was in fact the deputy ministers, that he had an involvement in the marriage law and if Ana Levski wasn't the person to sign the forgery, as people believed, then there was a possibility Pierce was that person.

Hallie had arrived early to the meeting, she'd spoken to Jack a few days before and was aware what was coming. How would the other Order members take the news? Dyllan was admired, adored and appreciated as a strong leader. Would Hallie be able to follow in her footsteps, would the other Order members listen to her and accept her?

She was young, there were people in the Order who'd served for years gone by, Hallie? Less than a year but she was strong and passionate. The auror felt that the opportunity would help only strengthen her passion to protect and bring peace for the greater good.

One could argue Hallie was a bad choice, and Hallie would understand their views. For a start she was pregnant, soon to be a Mother and was a newly qualified auror. You could say Hallie had a lot on her plate. Hallie on the other hand disagreed. She loved the rush, being busy always doing something. She'd proved herself as a trainee auror, qualifying earlier than most. Motherhood would be a challenge but she had a strong support system. A husband at home, a husband so invested in their child and supportive of her career it wouldn't be hard to go on Order missions pretending she had extra auror work to do.

As far as work was concerned it fell hand in hand with her auror duties. She'd be kept in the know on what was happening within the ministry and any illicit activities outside. Plus, who would suspect the newly qualified auror of nineteen years would be leading the Order?

Hallie was ready.


When Jack introduced Hallie's new role she didn't stand up, nor did she wave, instead Hallie simply smiled. She'd thought about things that she would say but really Hallie wasn't one for reading from cue cards she spoke from her heart and knew, if anybody asked her to speak, she'd know exactly what to say.

Sadly, and in all honesty, Miseria was one of those who did not like the change. Especially when it came to the society and how it all affected people.
So, when she finally received a note from Jack to gather once more, Miseria was not surprised. In fact, she was quite anxious about the new meeting and she waited a whole long week for that.

The Friday evening was set free of all errands for her, therefore. No responsibilities, nowhere to attend except for this place.
As she entered the kitchen, Miseria looked around, nodding to several familiar faces and noticing some new ones. Tilting her head, she took the bottle of whiskey and, “lending” one glass from the shelf, she sat down behind the table, red locks slightly jumping on her shoulders as she did so.

In overall honesty she did not like alcoholic drinks, but for some reason or another she felt like consuming only this during their meeting. As she poured the liquid into the glass, she continued to observe the whole room, especially studying a new face near by. Ah, she should be more active in their doings. After all – several old ones had left and they had been replaced by some others and she knew almost no one here. Pity. She loved working in groups.

With her first sip of Firewhiskey, she winced slightly but swallowed regardless, letting the liquid fire burn down her throat. Surviving that much, she began sipping more on it, however she almost spit everything out when Jack announced her reassignment. “You what?”

Miseria did not know why she sounded so surprised, but having Jack leave now as well... “That is a lie and you know it. You are a great leader, best I've seen so far!” She lifted her eyes, looking at the redhead on the other side of the table. Mis furrowed her eyebrows as Jack continued. A new group, a better cause. What, wasn't the Order good enough for her? She did not believe in her words when she said “not good enough”.

When the new leader was introduced, Miseria automatically turned her head towards the girl; she tilted her head again, observing Hallie's features as if trying to read out something from her face. She said nothing after that, only looked back at Jack with a small frown. There was no point in lingering of her leaving the Order's leader position. “And your new cause? Can you at least tell us what this will all be about and Who will you invite to participate in all that?”

Mis. Jack had forgotten about her. Even now, as she considered the possibility of inviting the woman, she knew it was good for Mis to wait out the first round of invitations. Mis was not as out in society as she used to be, and Jack would like to see how she responded to this news before she gave her any sort of consolation. If anything was true, though, Jack was going to spend more time trying to monitor her. Figure her out a bit more.

Mis, indeed, was the first to offer a response on the news, and it was one that surely was not going to give Hallie an encouragement. Jack blinked but forged on, intent on saying everything she had to say. Once it was all done, she gave Hallie a bracing look, an expression meant to show her own personal support for the young blonde. If they did not get behind Hallie, this whole maneuver was going to be in vain and she… well, she’d have a lot more of the world’s weight on her shoulders.

Mis spoke up and Jack turned to look at her. Her loyalty was touching, and perhaps useful, but she knew she needed Mis in the Order for now. Calmly, Jack responded, “It’s not a lie. Certainly a matter of opinion, but I don’t think I can best help the world through the Order. I don’t think I’ve… done poorly, but I can do better elsewhere, and I think Hallie’s direction may be healthier.”

Jack was not ready to announce the Knight’s Watch. She shifted and reached up, letting out a sigh of frustration. She wanted to be more open, but she just could not. She ran a hand over her eyes and dropped her hands into her lap. “I can’t,” she said, looking at Mis. She heaved a shrug. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t. Not now. I’m sure it will come out. And… all of you have the potential to join. I’ll be watching the progress of everything, and how well everyone works under Hallie. Some of you will be asked to help me. Others need to stay here, help the Order. You understand?”

Miseria sighed. She did not know why she took the news in such an emotional manner. Perhaps because she was too used seeing Jack as the leader? After all – those two women even went to school together, and the other girl... Well, Miseria knew nothing of her. Not that she ever acted cold towards the newbies, no, quite the opposite, but following someone who she did not know nor did not yet trust was certainly a hard thing to do.

Once Jack spoke up again, Miseria frowned slightly. Maybe she was right. Perhaps focusing on another field would do her good, would benefit the society and their small community, but she did not know. Honestly, she knew nothing and it felt terrifying.
As Jack sighed, Miseria's shoulders tensed. Did she upset her? By all means – she did not intend on making her feel bad, she was just trying to take in the major changes like everybody else.

When Jack began speaking again, she felt as if she was addressed like a child who had a hard time understanding of what truly was going on around her. So her new plan was kept a secret. For now. And Order still needed their protection. Holding back her tongue, she sipped whiskey, washing down the bitter taste from her mouth before turning to Hallie. She was certainly younger than Miseria. Even though she considered her memory a good one, she did not recall ever seeing their new leader during her school years. Maybe their paths have not crossed during their childhood?

She stood up and drew a deep breath. Well, if this was the new leader, she might as well get to know her more and properly. This was a bad start and Mis knew it. “Hello Hallie,” she said as she approached the woman, her hand stretched out. “I am Miseria Lupin, adoptive daughter of Khaat Lupin and Hufflepuff graduate. Its nice to meet you.”

Hallie watched as Miseria questioned Jack. From what Hallie could gather it was fairly obvious that the lady wasn't too keen on Jack stepping down. Anger. Confusion. It was understandable, she'd put her trust into Jack Dyllan and now Jack was leaving the Order to set up her own faction. Truth be told Hallie didn't know exactly the ins and outs of what Jack intended to do and it seemed she wasn't too keen on spilling the details now, even after Miseria's question.

Hallie had expected Miseria to talk to her at some point, but not anywhere as soon as this. So she was the adopted daughter Khaat Lupin's house elf had mentioned when she rescued her Mother from the lair of James Blood.

'Hi.' Hallie said, standing from her chair and taking Miseria's hand and giving it a firm shake with a smile. 'Oh so your Miseria. 'It's nice to meet you too, Suki mentioned you when I was last at Khaat's house.' Hallie added, hoping that name dropping one of the house elves would reassure the witch that Hallie was safe and could be trusted. Khaat Lupin was one of the most wanted witches in Britain, and her Father Robert perhaps the most wanted wizard - at least by the Blood pack and another criminal yet to be named. The fact that Hallie had been trusted enough to be taken to the Lupin's safe house would show something. If her parents had faith in the blonde maybe she would too.

Well, now all eyes were on Hallie it seemed a perfect time to make her introduction. Turning herself so she could see everybody at the meeting Hallie spoke.

'I'm Hallie. A few of you may know me, I've been part of the order for a fair time now. I don't know what Jack's plans so I wont be able to help any of you with that. Although I do know that we all have the same goal, we've all be brought together for different reasons because we have one goal. To restore peace. Right now, what with the rouge blood pack and the marriage law forgery, I'm sure we are all aware that the peace the Order once brought to the country is fading away. I'm hoping that, as the Order has done before, we can stay strong and figure out how to prevent the situation from getting worse.'

'I work as an auror in the ministry and I can tell you how much effort we are putting into capturing James Blood. Not enough. There are only two aurors working on the case, whilst the remaining aurors are being taken from their duties in capturing dark wizards to enforcing the marriage law, which we all know was a forgery.'

Perhaps now was the time to bring up Hallie's findings that she passed onto Jack. Maybe Jack didn't think the Order needed to know, just yet, but if Hallie had been one of the fellow faction members in the room she would have liked to have known. Moreover it was vital they worked together. Each person in the Order brought something different with them. Whether it be their relations in Hogwarts, as was Miseria's case being a nurse there; being a spy within the ministry, healing, strategy. Regardless of their skills they were all different, unique in their own right and brought something significant to the table.

'Speaking of the marriage law-' Hallie began, taking a glance at Jack, '-there has been an update.' And Hallie wasn't talking about the addition that two children were required by all couples within two years.

Teddy Lupin had always been in the Order of the Phoenix, even though he was naturally more prone to take the side of any split that caused the least amount of damage to himself and his family - in this case, neither of the fueding factions fit that bill very well. But he was the son of Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin, the godson to Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter. Whether or not he wanted to be in the Order was of little choice to him. And someone had to continue the family legacy. James was much too distracted to do so, Albus had very little concern about serving as the family heir, and Lily was not yet an adult.

As usual, Teddy was playing Daddy.

He knew Jack Dyllan quite well through the years. He had seen her come in, and she had been a powerhouse even during her seventh year. She had come in fearlessly, demanding action without ignoring the politics behind everything. Back then, her distinctions between right and wrong had been so clearly defined. He had watched her lose that. He would not consider the two of them to be at all close - they did not even have a personal relationship - but he found that he understood the woman for some reason, as different as she was from him. She was a protector, and a warrior. But being the leader of the Order of the Phoenix was not the position of a warrior, or a guardian. It was that of a diplomat. And Jack Dyllan had never exactly been the queen of tact or ettiquette.

He was not at all surprised by this announcement, though he was a bit stunned that she had actually gone through with it. He has known for months that this was the only way the woman could return to her former glory, but she seemed resigned to kill herself with it. Hallie must have inspired some sense of hope in her to have clinched it. He knew he had never done much more beyond reminding them all to think of the children. Now, however, he saw an opportunity.

It was a simple action of leading by example. He leaned forward, taking in every word that Hallie Rookwood said, immediately invested in her authority. He could feel eyes glancing to him a senior member of the Order and he knew that this was basically him seconding the decision. He did not yet trust Hallie Rookwood, but he trusted Jack, and if she was going to take a chance on Hallie, so could he.

Hallie paused, glancing to Jack. Jack's eyes turned to look at Hallie. Very little changed on her face, but a single eyebrow raised. It was not a challenge. It was an assurance that she would offer no intervention. Teddy understood, probably before Hallie did - this was her show now.

"We would love to hear it," he said. He knew that he and Hallie had never formally introduced themselves, but he knew his name was known, and he knew hers. This was enough.

Jack raised an eyebrow. For a moment or two Hallie wasn't too sure how to take that, was she playing dumb and acting as if there was no updates at all? Had she already informed the rest of the order the findings from Hallie's trip to the deputy ministers office? On the contrary if this was the case surely Jack would have gave some other inclination that they knew as to not make a fool of her? Besides, even if a lot of them knew there would be someone in the room that didn't and to Hallie, if they were to overcome the recent troubles they all needed to be on the same page.

'After our last meeting, Jack Dyllan-' Hallie began, nodding politely to the witch before returning her gaze to the rest of the Order, 'informed us of a Gideon Pierce. The new deputy minister for magic. At the time little was know about the man, and I'm sure there is a lot that we still don't know about him but I managed to find out something.'

Okay, enough blabbing, she'd informed them now. Now was the time to dispel the secret that she had been harboring, the tiny piece in a mammoth sized puzzle to solving the marriage law and restoring peace.

'When I went to his office for a meeting he had to leave to collect some paperwork, during that time I did a quick search of the office. There was nothing.' Hallie paused, maybe for dramatic effect she wasn't too sure although a part of her liked to think it was so that people could keep up and hear every work correctly.

'Nothing apart from a confidential file in one of the desk drawers. The file documented Levski's research, her methodology, findings and then solutions - there was a brief outline of ways to combat the problem discovered in the research, a large part of this being prospected plans for the marriage law. I managed to copy a few pages of the file and sent them to Jack to take a look and I'm sure she, as you probably will agree that it looks like Gideon Pierce knows a lot more about the marriage law than most of us.'

Hallie didn't speak anymore, she felt at this point it seemed fitting that somebody would raise a question, perhaps agree, squint their eyes in thought. There was no need to rush the meeting, they wouldn't be disturbed and it was vital everybody processed this information.