Chapter One

As the night grew darker, and the street lights shone overhead, the grimy, littered square became more alive than it had been that afternoon. The quiet square was strewn with broken glass bottles, old newspapers and pungent smelling,overflowing bin bags. A slim figure rushed down the street, treading carefully on the pavement and listening to their surroundings attentively. Number eleven was a shabby building, the broken gate hung onto the fence only by its hinges, and the small garden was cluttered with junk wood, tin cans and glass bottles. Immediately, as the figure walked past this garden, a black door sprung out of nowhere between houses number eleven and thirteen, followed by walls and windows. With a spring in their step, the figure skipped up the dirty steps to the black door, before pulling out their wand and tapping the door once. After the short sounding of chains, the door swung open uneasily, and the figure stepped inside.

In the hallway of number twelve Grimmauld Place, there was darkness. Confidently, the figure stepped forward, allowing the door to swing closed behind them, before walking into the darkness. Suddenly, dim lights began to flicker on as the figure made their way down the corridor to the door at the very end of the passageway. The figure continued down the hallway, oblivious to the overturned rug ahead, and unfortunately tripped over it. There was a loud crash as the figure knocked into a coat stand which tumbled over.

'Shit!' the feminine voice hissed, as she clambered to pick up the fallen furniture.

There was a tortured scream, and the figure jumped in horror. She stood, her wand drawn, scanning around for the owner of this blood-curdling screech. 'FILTH! SWARMING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS LIKE VERMIN! BE GONE!'

The door ahead creaked open, and the bright light from the room shone into the hallway. The figure stared, unable to speak as the voice continued to wail and scream. It seemed as though the whole house had awoken. She was gently shoved aside as a man with long black hair stormed down the hallway. She watched him as he roared at whatever it was that made that ear-splitting sound, and pulled, with great effort, a pair of curtains closed, until the wailing stopped.

'Lois?' The figure turned, immediately recognising the warm, welcoming face before her. She smiled as Mrs Weasley bundled her into a bone-crushing hug. 'It's been so long since I last saw you, dear,' she said, before holding her at arms length. 'You've grown into a lovely young woman.'

Lois blushed, 'Thank you, Mrs Weasley. You're looking well, yourself.'

Mrs Weasley chuckled, 'Why thank you, dear. Now, don't you worry about what just happened, we'll explain everything once the meeting is over. You will be staying with us, won't you?'

Confused, Lois furrowed her eyebrows, not quite understanding what Mrs Weasley meant. 'Staying with you? I didn't bring anything with me, Mrs Weasley. I was under the impression that I would be returning home after the meeting,' she said.

'Oh, I couldn't imagine you going back and living all alone in that house of your's, Lois, dear. I do insist that you stay with us, at least for the summer. There are plenty of rooms –'

'You can't make the girl stay if she doesn't want to, Molly,' the man with the long black hair interrupted, as he waltzed up the hallways towards them. He grinned a boyish grin, before offering his hand, 'Sirius Black. It is a pleasure to meet you.'

Lois blushed, and glanced down at his hand before taking it and shaking it lightly. 'Lois Mayweather,' she said, introducing herself with a bashful smile. Although, he seemed older than she had expected, Sirius Black was rather handsome. He had somewhat hypnotizing, dense grey eyes, and very aristocratic features.

Sirius Black stared at the girl before him, until he noticed her rather bewildered expression. 'Forgive me. But your name seems rather... familiar,' he said, quietly, as he continued to stare at her. 'Sorry, sorry! Come, let me introduce you to everyone.' He took Lois by the arm and led her through the doorway into the brightly lit room. Lois gazed around the room, recognising very few of the people present. Sirius cleared his throat, 'Everyone, this is Lois Mayweather, newest member of the Order.'

Lois Violet Mayweather was a quiet but popular girl at Hogwarts. She was Head Girl in her day, and a very talented dueler. Upon leaving Hogwarts, with excellent exam results, she had begun training as a Healer. Although, due to the fact that she wasn't enjoying herself as much as she had hoped, she quit and found a job working in a bookshop in Diagon Alley. She enjoyed the quiet life, and since her parents died, she was used to living and being on her own. It was the previous week that Lois bumped (literally) into her old friend Nymphadora Tonks, and they began catching up as it had been years since they had last seen each other. It was then that Dora told her about the Order of Phoenix, and suggested that she come along to the meetings. Although the meetings had already began, this was the first meeting that Lois had attended. She was anxious. People who knew her would not have expected her to get so involved, as she was seen as a timid, shy, young lady, who spent her days rearranging bookshelves. And she certainly didn't look the type to go out and fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. But she was willing to prove them wrong.

Lois followed Sirius into the room, and the same dank, damp smell seemed ever present. The room itself was rather cramped; dozens of chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting. The dull, peeling wallpaper, which was seen in the hall, had been replaced by rough stone walls. Upon the walls, ancient pots and pans were hanging, whilst in the centre of one of the walls was a large cupboard. The room was dimly lit by a large chandelier, which hung over a grand mahogany table, around which the other members of the Order where gathered. In the corner, at the far end of the table, sat a man with the Weasley red hair, tied back in a ponytail and he was wearing an earring with fang dangling from it. He looked up from the roll of parchment he had been gazing over, and upon noticing the new arrival, he grinned broadly.

'Mayweather!' Bill said, grinning. 'How've you been? Last time I saw you was – '

'Graduation,' Lois said gloomily. Bill wasn't the only Weasley she hadn't seen since then. Charlie, without giving her any notice at all, landed the bombshell that he was moving to Romania to study dragons, on the night of the last day of Hogwarts. That had been the last time that she had seen him.

Bill sent a look of compassion Lois' way, as she glanced around the room, feeling rather hopeful that Charlie might be present. 'He's still in Romania, Lois –' She frowned, and returned her attention to Bill '– He was meant to be here, but Dumbledore sent him an owl to explain that he wanted as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's been looking for people on his days off.'

'Oh...' Was all Lois could manage in an attempt to reply. 'I though you would be in Egypt at the moment, or have you quit Gringotts?' she asked the eldest Weasley, as she subtly changed the subject. Talking about Charlie was never easy, and it was only rarely that he was mentioned – not that she complained.

'I've got a desk job now,' Bill informed her. 'It means I'm closer to home, and I can help more with the Order. I do rather miss working out in the tombs though, but anyway – where are you working now? I heard you quit Healer training! Wasn't sure if it was true or not, 'coz last time I spoke to you, you were dead set about it.'

'Mm... yeah, I did. I just … didn't enjoy it. I mean – oh, I don't know. It didn't feel right or something,' Lois mumbled, slouching into the empty, wooden chair beside him. 'Well, I got a job in a small bookshop in Diagon Alley, so I've been working there for the past year. The wage isn't much though, but it pays for the necessities.' As she looked around the room, she found that she was yet to be introduced to a few people. In the far corner of the room, sat a man who was smoking from a dirty, battered pipe and looked as though he was dressed in rags, and, sitting a few seats away from her, was Lois' old Potions teacher, Professor Snape; she certainly didn't want to be introduced to him. 'So... how's your family keeping?' she asked, turning her attention back to Bill.

'Well, Dad's still working in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department. And, of course, he's still meddling with all those plugs and any other random things that he finds. I think Mum's given up warning him against it –'

As if on cue, through a large door at the back of the room, Arthur Weasley, a thin, balding man entered, carrying a large pile of scrolls. Once he had set the scrolls onto the large wooden table, he scanned the room, but was unaware of the newest member of the Order.

'Good Evening, Mr Weasley,' Lois called out, and waved once he glanced over.

'Evening, Lois, dear,' Mr Weasley replied, with a warm smile, and continued with what he was doing. Lois wasn't entirely sure that he had registered with the fact the they had not seen each other in almost four years, yet he replied as though the last time that they had seen each other had been yesterday. She chuckled, as Mr Weasley glanced back over at her, with a somewhat confused expression on his face. 'Lois! It seems like only yesterday – how're you, my dear?' he asked, hurrying over, and taking a seat in the chair next to Bill.

'I'm very well, Mr Weasley. How're you?' Lois replied politely.

'Busy – what with the Department, and the Order meetings, and such,' Mr Weasley said in a rather stressed tone. 'I suppose you've already seen Molly?' he asked. 'She's been suggesting all week that you should stay with us for a week or two after the meeting – and well, you know my Molly, it's hard to persuade her once she's made her decision. But, just so you know, you don't have to stay at all, but you're welcome if you want to.'

'Thank you very much, Mr Weasley, that's very kind of you,' Lois said. 'But, I'm afraid I haven't brought any of my belongings, so it would be silly to stay. Although, I'll drop by as much as I can; when I'm not working and such.'

The door through which Lois had entered, opened once more and nine witches and wizards traipsed through the doorway and into the room, followed by Mrs Weasley. Lois recognised only two; Dora and Mad-Eye Moody. Once Dora, one of the last people to take their seat, fell into the chair next to Lois, the meeting commenced. Professor Snape was the first to speak. He began informing them of Voldemort's plans, and any information that he had received. Lois was rather confused, until Dora whispered in her ear of how Professor Snape was a double agent, and was relaying any information he could get from Voldemort back to Dumbledore and the Order. Snape continued, and began speaking of how Professor Dumbledore had a shrewd idea that Voldemort was attempting to build up his army, and gain more followers. It had been the Order's job – since Voldemort's return – to try and convince people that You-Know-Who had in fact returned, but because of the Ministry's attitude, it was harder than expected. The meeting went on for what seemed like hours, and Lois was finding it hard to keep up with everything that was being discussed. She hoped that Dora wouldn't mind filling her in a bit before she left, then perhaps, she would know exactly what everyone was talking about. As the meeting drew to an end, and several of the members left, Lois found herself trying to piece things together, to try and make sense of everything. But it wasn't working.

Lois sat, listening in attentively as Bill and Mr Weasley spoke in hushed tones over a couple of scrolls of parchment. Dora had left the room, along with Sirius and Mrs Weasley, presumably to gather the rest of the Weasley family, who had been staying upstairs, and Harry Potter, who had arrived shortly after Lois had. It wasn't long before they re-entered the room; Mrs Weasley scolding her husband and eldest son for not clearing away the pieces of parchment and plans off the table. It was plainly obvious to see that she didn't want either Harry or any of her younger children to find out anything from the meeting.

'This is Lois Mayweather, Harry. She's new to the Order.'

Lois looked up to see Sirius gesturing towards her. She smiled pleasantly at the raven-haired boy, 'Hello Harry.' He smiled and returned his greetings. Lois watched as the rest of the Weasley family wandered into the room. She sat quietly, wondering if any of them would recognise her. It was only when Ginny sat in the empty chair beside her, that she thought it suitable to say something. 'Hi Ginny.'

The fourteen year old turned to stare at Lois, until her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. 'LOIS!' she screamed, throwing her arms around the sandy haired girl; Lois laughed. 'We haven't seen you in ages! I missed you – and I was left to put up with those oafs!' she said, jerking her thumb towards her elder brothers; Fred, George and Ron.

'Well, aren't you glad I left you that book on jinxes?' Lois asked, winking. 'I left that specifically, so you could... uhm... take care of your older brothers. I hope you tried some of them out.'

'Of course I did,' Ginny grinned devilishly. 'So, how've you been? I missed having another girl around the house, you know.'

Lois and Ginny chatted excitedly about everything that had happened since they had last saw each other. To Lois, Ginny was like her little sister, and if she was perfectly honest, she had missed having someone to gossip with. They continued to talk until Lois asked Mrs Weasley if she wanted some help with making the dinner, after Dora had ever so subtly been turned down on her offer. She left her seat, and began to help Mrs Weasley prepare the vegetables for the stew.

'Ginny?' Hermione asked, as she sat down in the chair beside the youngest Weasley. 'How do you know Lois so well?'

'She was Charlie's girlfriend –'

'Spent most of her time at the Burrow with us,' Fred interrupted.

'We all thought they were gonna get married,' George added.

'What happened?'

Just a little something I wrote at midnight last night because I couldn't get to sleep. I had been toying with the idea anyways, but couldn't be bothered starting it. Anyway, give me your opinion as to whether I should continue it or not. Y'anno... Reviews; please (:

Cheers, guys!