Roe was well into her second shift straight, which wasn't exactly uncommon.

The hospital was severely understaffed, and the nurses bore the brunt of that. Of course, it wasn't normally like this. However, the start of the summer marked the beginning of the hospital's busiest two months in history, and those records didn't show any signs of slowing down.

People had been coming in with unexplainable injuries- ones that were, as a result, nearly impossible to treat. One particularly gruesome case involved a middle aged man whose femur had seemingly disappeared from his leg, with no exit wound or broken flesh at all. He had no memory of the event.

Of course, not everything was that bad, and she still had her normal patients to worry about. There was Jack Smith in room 809, with the broken leg, and Mrs. Vander in room 834, recovering from a hip replacement, and about a million other patients for her to see after that.

She was on her way to Leighton Tingley's room to change her bandages when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw something unusual moving towards the staircase.

She opted to follow it rather than calling security, and was glad when she did.

Rounding the corner, she recognized the old man with the long silver hair and even longer beard, and half-moon spectacles, dressed in his usual, strange attire.

"Dumbledore," she said cautiously, pausing and leaving a great deal of space in between them. "There's been another attack then, has there?"

"No, not at this time of the cycle, I would surely hope," he replied, voicing exactly what she had been thinking. "Though, things are quite restless at the moment; not much would surprise me anymore, I'm afraid."

"Then why are you here?" Roe asked, deciding to brush past the cryptic part of his statement, as she normally did. He was a strange man, and she'd long ago accepted that she would never understand most of the things he said.

"There are some people I want you to meet."

"I can't go right now," Roe said, hands on her hips and head tilted to the side, trying to sound apologetic and likely failing. "I've got patients that need me, so unless this is a matter of life or death…"

She finished with a shrug that he regarded for several seconds, before he nodded his head slightly. "Very well. When will you be done?"

Supposedly, five hours ago, she thought to herself, while checking her watch. "Eight o'clock tonight."

"We'll meet here then," Dumbledore said, leaving no room for disagreement this time, as he disappeared- apparated, as he called it- right in front of her, leaving her to shake her head and get back to work.

/

While a meeting of the Order was technically in session, Sirius opted to stick to the back corner of the kitchen, occasionally listening in, but not adding much to the conversation.

The current discussion was generating much more controversy than normal, which he was fine with; his old house didn't hold much in the way of entertainment, and watching Hestia and McGonagall go at it was as good as anything else.

"We can't bring a muggle into the Order," Hestia protested for what felt like the millionth time, her high pitched voice grating at Sirius' ears, as she continually came up with more ways to sound like a complete moron.

"We've already got a squib and a werewolf- no offense, Remus, of course- would a muggle really be that terrible?" McGonagall countered, an eyebrow raised and her voice taking on her most scolding, superior tone, which happened to be one that Sirius knew well.

"Well I should think so," Hestia insisted, slamming her fist on the table to accentuate her disbelief, "The girl can't protect herself- and muggles are easily manipulated. She can't be trusted with our secrets- she could go blabbing them to the world."

"You are aware that we're talking about a grown woman, correct? From your description, you'd think we were inviting a toddler to join," McGonagall spat back in a dry tone, her lips pursed together as she let out a sigh of disbelief, before turning back to Dumbledore and sending him a look that said, 'put an end to this, before I do.'

"Minerva is right, Hestia," Dumbledore said then, drawing the Order's attention back to him, much to Sirius' disappointment; listening to him drone on and on was nowhere near as much fun as watching McGonagall loose her temper, after all. "The girl will be a great asset to us; one that we cannot afford to pass on, no matter the risks that her involvement may bring."

So they were bringing a muggle into the Order. That was sure to be interesting, Sirius thought to himself, tuning out the rest of the meeting, which mostly included Snape bragging about his work (which seemed pathetically stagnant to Sirius), and Hestia making petty comments to anybody who would listen.

He didn't tune in until, just as the meeting was being adjourned, Dumbledore spoke again.

"Nymphadora, if you wouldn't mind picking Rosemary up tonight, I would greatly appreciate it," he said, handing her a torn up bit of a scroll, which Tonks studied for a moment before she burnt it.

"Got it, sir," she said amicably, smiling at him until he nodded and then turned to Remus.

"Mr. Lupin, you're the most familiar with the plan. I won't be here tonight when she arrives. She'll have many questions, and I trust that you'll answer them."

"Of course," Lupin agreed quickly, nodding his head seriously. That was enough for Dumbledore, who looked over the people at the table one last time, before he promptly turned to leave.

Sirius was about to ask his friend for more information about the plan that he was only just hearing of, but Remus turned to Tonks before he got a chance. "Tonks, are you sure you should be going alone?"

His younger cousin rolled her currently-purple eyes at that, and laughed off his old friends concern. "I'll be fine; I'm retrieving one muggle- what could go wrong?"

"Loads of things, actually," Remus said to that, which only made Tonks laugh again, prompting a small smile onto Remus' face, which he quickly hid.

"He's right, you know," Sirius jumped in then, "Perhaps I should escort you."

Remus sent him an exasperated look at that, while Tonks simply rolled her eyes again. "It's a muggle hospital in the middle of nowhere; I'll be fine," she insisted, accidentally giving away just the information that Sirius needed.

"Of course you will," he nodded his head at that, before smiling slightly at the girl and reaching out to ruffle her bright pink hair. "You're all grown up now, I suppose."

"Yeah, and don't go forgetting it," Tonks said, ducking away from his hand and punching his arm lightly, before sending a last smile in Remus' direction and heading out the door, towards the kitchen.

When she was gone, Remus turned back to him with his eyes narrowed and a knowing look on his face. "Do not do anything stupid tonight."

"I'm offended that you would even suggest it," Sirius said, one of his hands finding his heart and hovering over it, while he widened his eyes and tried his best to look innocent, not fooling his oldest friend at all. "I'm also offended that you've been in cahoots with Dumbledore and left me out."

"Up until now this plan was highly confidential; it still is," Remus said, pursing his lips together which only served to make him look older and more tired. "And whatever idiotic plan you've thought up for tonight, I want nothing to do with it."

Sirius smiled widely at that, and winked at Lupin, finally prompting a smile onto his face. "Whatever you say, old friend," he said, patting the other man on his back, before he turned away and headed towards the library, to get some research in.

/

By the time her shift ended, Roe had caught her second- or maybe third, or fourth, or fifth- wind, and was feeling fine again, if not slightly jumpy from all the coffee she'd consumed. She swung by her locker and grabbed her bag, before she went to meet Dumbledore. She still wasn't entirely sure she wanted to meet any of his friends, but she also didn't think she had a choice in the matter.

Still, she was surprised to find that, when she got back to the hallway where they'd met only hours before, he was nowhere to be found and, in his place, was a girl about her age and height, with bright pink hair.

"You're Rosemary, then?" the girl asked, eyebrows raised, before a smile grew on her face. "You look just like Dumbledore said."

"He sent you?" she countered as way of response, eying the girl up and down, and trying to figure out if she should trust her. She didn't look particularly dangerous at first glance, but there was a spark in her eye that made her seem bigger than she was, and the tip of a thin stick was pointing out of her sleeve. Looks could definitely be deceiving.

"Yup; he's a busy man- couldn't make it himself, but here I am. A bunch of the others are waiting at the house," the girl explained, before she stuck out a hand. "I'm Tonks."

"He's never sent anybody else before," Roe said, ignoring the girls' introduction and outstretched hand entirely, while biting her lip and taking a step back. The closest stairwell was just behind her to the left and, if she got there, she was pretty sure she could make a run for it.

"Right- yes, he did mention that," Tonks said abruptly, before a light went off in her eyes and she quickly started talking again, listing off things that she could only know for one reason. "You've known Dumbledore for three years. A day after you met him, you saved Marcus Bigby's life. The first time he apparated with you, you vomited all over him, and then yelled at him for twenty minutes. Sound about right?"

Roe didn't say anything right away, but her shoulders relaxed and she stopped planning her escape. "I go by Roe," she finally said, accepting that she could trust the woman and getting a smile in response.

"Right th-"

Tonks was cut off by the sound of a sharp crack filling the air, and suddenly there was a man standing just to her left. He had a mess of long, dark hair, and his clothes were somehow both old fashioned and stylish, and his face bore the craziest smile she'd ever seen, which only grew when he dodged a punch from Tonks.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" the girl yelled, though she sounded more frustrated than angry, which Roe took as a sign that she shouldn't be too scared. "I told you, I can handle this, and you can't be here."

"Oh calm down, Nymphy," the man replied easily, a smile still playing on his face, "I'm just checking in on you- you were only supposed to be gone 15 minutes and it's been… 18, by my count. You never can be too safe these days. Say, are there any dark wizards around for me to fight?"

"You. Can't. Be. Here." Tonks repeated, accenting each word with a swat to the man's head, which he eventually ducked away from and, in turn, ended up standing just in front of Roe.

"I'll take that as a no on the dark wizards then," the man muttered and, if Roe wasn't mistaken, he sounded slightly disappointed. Despite the assault he was facing from Tonks, he relaxed, though he raised his eyebrows when his gaze landed on Roe.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" she asked, unimpressed with the elevator eyes he was casting towards her, and his general demeanor; namely, she thought he was mad.

"Sirius Black, at your service," the man said lavishly, with a half-smile and a wink that she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at.

"For Merlin's sake Sirius, if you wanted to flirt with her that badly you could have just waited until I'd brought her to headquarters," Tonks continued to scold him, despite the fact that he looked to be at least 10 years her senior and was not taking her seriously at all. Overall, the affect would have been comical, if Roe still didn't still fear for her life.

"Who is he?" Roe asked again, ignoring the man entirely and turning to face Tonks, who apparently caught onto the look of fear in Roe's eye, and finally gave her a straight answer.

"My cousin. Who is supposed to be in hiding," she said, directing the last of the sentence towards the man, who didn't looked concerned about it at all.

"Oh come on Nymphy, live a little; it's not like the Ministry's got eyes on some dingy muggle hospital in the middle of nowhere- I'd say this place is probably even safer for me than headquarters."

"Don't call me that," Tonks hissed, anger flashing over her face for a moment, before she took a deep breath and let it out, and then turned her back on him entirely. "And you know what? Fine. I don't care. You can explain it to Dumbledore and the rest of the Order; it's not my problem. Roe- let's go."

She sighed, as this was always her least favourite part. "Do we have to apparate?" she asked, still not used to the method of transportation, no matter how many times she was forced to use it.

Tonks smiled at her then, the look filled with sympathy, before she took a step forward and grabbed onto her arm. "It'll be over before you know it," she said, though Roe easily read through the lie.

She could hear Sirius saying something along the lines of, "That's what you're complaining about?" but moments later it all disappeared into a crack.

\\

The second Roe felt her feet hit solid ground she ripped her arm from Tonks' grip and, in the process, threw herself into a wall. She landed with a thump and felt something topple to the ground beside her, but she didn't have a chance to see what it was, as the hallways then filled with shrill, deafening screams, and she immediately covered her ears.

'Filthy mudblood scum in my house, tainting my name, brought a muggle…'

The cries only lasted a moment longer before a furious looking woman with bright red hair appeared in a doorway a few feet away, and stormed down the hallway. The screaming stopped moments later, and the woman reappeared looking frazzled but calmer.

"Well then, you must be Rosemary; Dumbledore's told us all about you, of course," she said, though Roe was no longer paying attention to her. Instead, she was focused on the crowd growing behind the woman, predominantly made up of red haired children.

There were a million questions she now had, but one that seemed more pressing. "What was that?"

"Just a rather nasty portrait," the woman brushed it off, and most of the group nodded in agreement, though they were also staring at Roe like she was an exhibit in a zoo. The woman seemed to notice, as she turned to them then. "You all, off to your rooms; this is Order business, after all. Get."

One of the taller boys turned around to face the rest of the group. "You heard your mother; this is top secret, adults only business."

Another boy, who looked identical to the first, added, "Yeah, come on now, this is not for the faint of heart- and I'm talking about you, Ronald. Merlin knows that description never fit Ginny."

The only girl with red hair smiled, while another one of the boys simply rolled his eyes. The woman did not look impressed. "You two are included in that. Get to your room."

The twins looked at each other for a moment before they decided that the fight wasn't worth it, and disappeared with a loud 'crack.' The rest of the children took the stairs.

Once they were gone, the older woman turned back to Roe. "Right then, you look absolutely exhausted; practically dead on your feet. Let's get you something to eat."

Before she could protest, a hand was on her back and she was being swept into a kitchen and placed in a chair. A plate of muffins appeared in front of her, and she realized just how hungry she actually was.

Tonks sat beside her and grabbed one off the plate as well, before Molly came back with tea, milk, and sugar.

"Now I don't know how you take yours, but here you go- this should do you fine. And let me just see what else we have in the fridge- somebody really does need to go shopping but-"

"Molly, she's fine," Tonks interrupted kindly but firmly, stopping the older woman in her tracks, "Really, we don't need to smother her. The others will be here any minute, anyways."

"Others?" Roe jumped in, hoping to finally get some answers about where they were and what was going on.

"The rest of the Order," Tonks explained, as if the words were supposed to mean something to her.

Unfortunately, before Roe could ask for further clarification, two men strolled into the kitchen. The first was shabby looking, with brown hair tinged with grey and faded but prominent lines on his face that appeared to be scars. He smiled as he entered, and took a seat at the table across from Roe. The other man, she recognized as Sirius Black.

/

Apparating into the library hadn't been Sirius' best idea, especially because Remus had been waiting for him. Still, dealing with Remus' disapproving looks and thinly veiled amusement was much better than dealing with the scorn of Molly Weasley.

"You know how stupid of you that was, correct?" Remus asked quietly, as they were making their way down the stairs and to the kitchen.

"All's well that ends well, old friend."

Sirius could practically feel Remus roll his eyes at that, but neither of them said anything else and, moments later, they made their way into the kitchen, where the muggle girl was sitting at the table.

Molly excused herself from the room, but not before she sent a disapproving glare in Sirius' direction that told him she knew exactly what he'd done.

"Rosemary, it's a pleasure to meet you," Remus started, as soon as the door shut, taking a step towards the table and reaching a hand out to shake.

For his part, Sirius simply sat down, taking in the scene in front of him. The girl tentatively returned the handshake, and corrected him. "It's Roe."

"Right," Remus nodded his head, diplomatic as ever, "Roe then, it's a pleasure. I'm Remus Lupin, and I believe you've already met Sirius?"

Sirius couldn't stop himself from winking at her, and she snorted in response.

Remus ignored the exchange entirely and continued. "Do you know why we've brought you here?"

"Well, I highly doubt it's in a misguided attempt to make new friends," Roe said dryly, getting wry smiles from everybody at the table.

"Not exactly," Remus said, before cutting to the chase. "Dumbledore tells us that you can effectively treat werewolf induced wounds?"

The girl only nodded at that, and Sirius felt himself sitting up a little bit straighter. "Do tell," he prompted, drawing the attention at the table to him. "How does it work? Wizards have been trying for ages, so how does one muggle figure it out?"

Something in her eyes flared and for a moment Sirius thought she was angry, but she simply shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Nobody knew what to say to that. For his part, Sirius kept studying her, trying to see if she would give anything else away, but her face remained stoically impassive and eventually Tonks interrupted the silence.

"That's a bit beside the point at the moment," she said reasonably, getting appreciative looks from Remus and Roe in the process. "The point is, is that she can do it, and that we need her because of it."

"Thank you Tonks," Remus said gratefully, sending a pointed look towards Sirius in the process, and the turning back to the muggle. "Roe, we're hoping that you can help us develop a magical cure to werewolf attacks. Of course you'll probably have to teach us how to do it the muggle way first but-"

"Why?" she interrupted with narrowed eyes, sitting up straighter and leaning forward on the table. "I've been doing this for years, so why now? And what's 'the Order'?"

Remus took a deep, calming breath before he continued, though Sirius could tell how hard he was trying to keep his voice even. "I understand that you have questions, Roe, but there are answers that we can't give you. It isn't safe for you to-"

Roe interrupted again, but this time she sounded mad. "I have a feeling that none of this is going to be particularly safe, so why don't you cut the crap and just tell me what's going on?"

Remus and Tonks exchanged a look that ended in Remus letting out a sigh, before turning to Sirius who only shrugged.

"Fine," Remus finally said, before he began to recount the short version of decades of their own history.

\\

Throughout the time she'd spent working with Dumbledore, Roe had made a point of learning as little as possible about the man's world. There had been a time when she'd gone into it looking for help and she'd been turned away, and she still harbored bad feelings about that.

Still, she'd never realized exactly how bad things were in the magical world.

"You're telling me that this man's creating an army?" she demanded incredulously, trying to process everything she'd just heard.

"Exactly," Tonks nodded, her previous, cheery demeanor falling away into something serene. It made the girl look older. "And he's well on his way to succeeding."

"And you're the only ones fighting against him?"

"That's where it gets complicated," Remus said, his voice grave and a bitter half-smile on his face. "The Ministry- our government- is denying that he's back. If they do that, they don't have to deal with him. Of course, that's an awful plan, but people are willing to believe anything when the alternative is the return to the dark ages of our kind."

"And you seriously think he's using werewolves as weapons?"

She saw Remus cringe at that, and Sirius did to, because the man reached out a hand and rested it on the other man's back. Tonks took over the conversation again.

"It wouldn't be the first time," she said grimly, her lips pursed together in a tight line. "Last time he mostly used them as a threat- there were a large number of werewolves who sided with him, and they're the ones who've given up on humanity altogether. It makes for a rather gruesome attack plan."

Roe felt her stomach drop, and the grim faces on the people around her didn't help matters. "Not all of them have sided with him though. Right?"

"Of course not," Sirius cut in, his voice harsh and something flaring in his eyes. Remus took over after a moment.

"Of course, it is hard to say no to him, and to the werewolves who sided with him. Many of them don't have a choice," he explained reasonably, looking more like a ghost than a man. "That's where you'd come in. If we can figure out a way to cure them once and for all we-"

"I don't have a cure," she interrupted him, noticing how harsh her voice became but not caring in the slightest. "I have a treatment, but even then it doesn't always work. If you're looking for a cure, I can't help you. I'm sorry, but you're out of luck."

Remus didn't look surprised at all. He smiled sadly, while Tonks nodded. The look on Sirius' face was the most curious and by far the most intense, so she looked away.

"But a treatment is more than anybody in our world has managed," Tonks said, her voice taking on a softer note, as if she was talking to a scared animal. "It's a start."

"We're not looking for any miracles," Remus said, starting up where Tonks left off, "But if you can help us combat the werewolf attacks in any way possible, it would go a long way. Even if we just managed to translate your treatment to magic, that would be monumental."

She bit her lip and looked away, but she also knew that she couldn't say no. Still, there was something that was eating at her mind.

"You're sure they're not all bad?" she asked, hating the way her voice faltered slightly.

Remus smiled wryly at that. "I wouldn't be here if we were."

It took a few moments for the gravity of the man's words to hit her, but when they did she felt like she'd been run over by a truck. Regret and sorrow washed over her all at once, and then she just felt tired.

/

Sirius saw the thoughts run through her mind, and he saw the look on her face. He spoke before he could stop himself.

"If you've got a problem with that, I'll happily show you the door."

Remus sent him an appalled look, and Tonks kicked him under the table. Across from him, the girl practically came to life all over again.

"If I've got a problem with him?" she asked incredulously, anger covering her previously unreadable face as she stared him down. "What about you lot? I've seen the way your people look at muggles- hell, have the people in this house have been looking at me that way since I got here. I couldn't give a damn is he's a werewolf; it's your people who'd better pull yourself together if you're to lower your standards enough to work with me. As long as he doesn't expect some magical cure, I don't have a problem with him."

He didn't want to be the first to break eye contact, but he also had nothing to say to that. It took a lot to stun Sirius into silence, but somehow the muggle girl had managed. Luckily, Tonks broke the silence, just as it was starting to become too heavy.

"Does that mean you will work with us, then?"

Roe practically deflated in front of them, but she nodded her head. "I really can't promise anything, but I'll give it a go."

Out of principle Sirius didn't smile at her, but Remus and Tonks did. She turned so that she was only facing them, and that was fine by him. He crossed his arms and leaned back, knowing that the fun was only starting.

"Perfect," Remus said, smiling slightly as he gathered up the papers in front of him. "Tonks can show you your room- we'll have somebody stop by your place and pick up-"

"Excuse me?" she interrupted, quickly making a habit of it. Tonks and Lupin looked uncertain, and Sirius didn't offer any guidance, so she continued after a moment of silence. "I'm sorry if there was any confusion, but I'm not living here."

Everything in her voice said that she wasn't sorry at all. Tonks looked nervous, but pushed through. "Well it's not exactly safe for you to be by yourself; you can't really protect yourself against much of anything so…"

"And why would I need protection?"

Remus looked exasperated at that. "Did you not listen to anything we were just saying?"

Her face turned to steel then. "I agreed to help you, which I will do in my spare time. I have a job, and I have a life. I've survived this long without your protection, so I'm sure I'll have no problem continuing to do so."

Remus looked ready to protest again, while Tonks only shrugged. Sirius knew a lost battle when he saw one.

"She's right, Remus," he said quietly, focusing on his friend, rather than the girl, as he spoke. "It's not like the Death Eaters will be going after her any time soon- they don't even know she exists, for Merlin's sake."

Remus looked like he wanted to protest more, but he let out a sigh. "Fine," he said, before he started thinking. "We'll need a way to communicate with you at all times though. And we'll have guards check in. We'll definitely be putting up some defensive spells, but we should probably consult Mad Eye before we do that."

He continued rambling, but Sirius tuned him out, and it seemed like everybody else did as well. Tonks was staring at Remus, though it was clear that she wasn't taking in what he was saying. Roe, on the other hand, was staring into the tea cup in front of her, her eyes closing slightly more every second.

The girl was pretty enough, he decided. She had long, dark hair, full lips, and brown eyes that had more depth in them than he'd ever thought possible. She was short and curvy, and she held herself with an air of confidence that most people twice her age didn't manage. Despite that, she looked tired, and it wasn't the kind of tired that a nap cured. She couldn't have been a day over thirty, but she had bags under her eyes that looked centuries in the making, and it seemed like she'd been carrying the world for a very long time.

Sirius hadn't noticed just how intently he'd been staring at her until she looked up and met his gaze, and hers subsequently filled with irritation. The feeling flared up in him a second later, so he smiled suggestively at her until she rolled her eyes and turned back to Remus.

"Of course, you'll have to stay here tonight, until we can get the proper safety precautions in place," he said, bringing his rambling to an end. "Nymphadora, I understand she was supposed to be staying in your room?"

Tonks nodded, only looking slightly put off by Remus' use of her first name, while Roe looked ready to fight again. That was interrupted by a barely concealed yawn.

"Fine," she muttered, arms crossed and pouting slightly.

"Alright then, let's go," Tonks said, pushing her chair back and standing up, waiting for Roe to do the same before he gestured towards the door, indicating that Roe should head out. "We'll talk again in the morning- goodnight."

Remus returned Tonks' smile and held it for a moment too long. For his part, Sirius couldn't help but smirking after Roe, who was waiting tentatively by the door.

"Sweet dreams, sweetheart," he called after her, getting a snort from Tonks and a distinctly annoyed groan from Roe.

When the door had closed behind them, Remus turned to face Sirius with raised eyebrows and an expression that demanded an explanation, but Sirius opted to ignore it. Instead, he stood up and wandered over to a cupboard.

"I know I've got some fire whiskey around here somewhere…"

\\

Tonks continued to talk the entire way up the stairs and through the winding hallways, and Roe did her best to follow the conversation. She nodded her head, and made appreciative noises where necessary, but she was exhausted and it was becoming harder and harder to hide it.

The house itself was absolutely terrifying, so she turned away from the heads on the walls and the ominous looking curtains and the closed doors, telling herself that she was only there for the night.

When they finally got to Tonks' room the girl opened the door and said, "Well, this is it," gesturing towards the made bed in the far corner, that was presumably Roe's. "Bathroom's just down the hall and to the right, and I suppose you'll be needing pajama's…"

"This is fine," Roe said, cutting her off and realizing a moment later that she sounded harsher than she'd meant to, and opted to correct herself. After all, the girl had been nothing but kind of her. "Thank you- really, I just don't want to be a bother and besides, I've slept in these before."

Tonks looked uncertain, but she nodded her head eventually. "Right then, sleep well," she said with one last smile, before she excused herself from the room and left Roe alone for the first time in what felt like far too long.

It struck her as odd just how silent the house was, and she knew that she had a million things to think about, but the second her head hit the rather lumpy pillow, she was asleep.

AN- Please let me know what you think!