Dark nails tapped rhythmically against the bar countertop. The girl let out a deep sigh, scanning the room once more. "Honestly," she muttered to herself, "you'd think he'd have the bloody courtesy to show up on time."

"I think you will find that I am perfectly on time, dear Ellen."

She turned around quickly, smiling widely at the sight of the old man. Jumping up, she wrapped him in a tight hug like she was greeting an old friend. "You've gotten old, Albus." Ellen grinned as he settled down next to her.

He laughed deeply, his old face appearing years younger for just a moment. "I have lived a very long life. Unlike yourself, I catch myself growing older with each year."

Ellen beamed and signaled the bartender. "Two butterbeers Tom!" Turning back to Albus, she let a more serious expression fall across her face. "Now tell me, why did you call me here? You know that I hate being around so many people. It just isn't safe."

Albus let out a deep sigh. "Voldemort has returned."

She went stiff. "I thought he was dead."

"Yes, that is what people believe." He took a deep sip of his drink. "But he has returned. Last summer he lured young Harry Potter to a graveyard and performed a ritual in order to acquire a new body."

"So why am I here? Shouldn't the Ministry be handling this?"

"Cornelius refuses to believe that he is back and has taken to slandering myself and Mr. Potter at every opportunity. You'll find no help from the Ministry at this time."

Ellen sighed deeply. "Well, shit. That's why I'm here, isn't it? You're assembling the Order again?"

"What is left of it." He confirmed. The two sat in silence for several minutes, dwelling over the state of their world.

"I don't really have much of a choice, now do I?" Ellen smiled tightly. "Every time I think I'm finally out of the fire, something just has to pull me right back in."

"I won't force you to help us, but we need someone like you in the dark times that are to come."

"Ha!" she barked out, "Albus, it's dangerous for me to be around people, you know that. Is it really worth the risk to you? If they find out where I am, they'll kill everyone they have to to get to me. I don't want that kind of weight on my shoulders again."

"You know that the others are still out there no matter where you go." Albus spoke softly. "You can choose to do what is right instead of what is easy."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" At his bright stare she rolled her eyes. "Okay then Albus, I'll help the Order again. But this is the last time."

"Of course it is, dear Ellen. Now, take my arm." She rolled her eyes once more but firmly gripped onto his forearm with one hand and held her bag tightly in the other. "You remember how apparition works?"

"Yes, I do. Let's go before I change my mind." Ellen snapped. The old man twinkled at her once more before they disappeared with a loud crack.

The pair landed in front of a series of townhouses. The girl raised her eyebrow at the sight. "I think you will find this clears a few things up." Albus said lightly, handing her a worn piece of paper.

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

When she looked back up, Ellen watched as another home appeared between numbers 11 and 13. "The Fidelius charm, really?"

"It is the only sure way to insure that we go undetected." Albus answered firmly, leading the way into the home. She followed him into the building, taking in the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of the main floor.

"This place is horrendous." She muttered. Her companion simply ignored her and kept walking deeper into the house. As they got continued on, she could hear the faint noise of people talking. Albus led her into what appeared to be the kitchen. Standing by the stove was an older woman with bright red hair. Her face was round and kind, but most of all, it was familiar.

Ellen dropped her bag in shock. "Molly?" she forced out.

Molly turned around and immediately dropped the spoon she had been stirring with. "Ellen?" she whispered, "But...how?"

Ellen smiled tightly, resisting the urge to step away when the older woman approached her.

"You haven't aged a day." Molly whispered in disbelief, cradling Ellen's face in her hands as if she didn't believe that the girl was real.

"I told you that the Noah don't age. You didn't believe me, did you?"

"It seemed so impossible." the woman said, "And when you disappeared we all thought you had died. Ellen, where have you been?"

"America, mostly. Turns out that the yanks aren't such terrible gits once you get to know them."

Molly squeezed her shoulders tightly in a semblance of an embrace before pulling away. "Everyone will be so happy to see you, dear."

"Who all is left?"

"We didn't lose many after what happened with James and Lily. The war was over."

Ellen sat down at the table, propping her booted feet up despite Molly's protests. "Albie, when are we having the next meeting? I would rather not have to explain my existence to everyone individually."

"I believe that we will be gathering later tonight once dinner has ended. Sadly, I cannot be there, there are things at Hogwarts that require my immediate attention." With that, he began to walk out of the kitchen. At the last moment he turned back to Ellen. "You must remember that the game is much different now. You will have to adapt."

Ellen waved her hand at him and he left at the obvious dismissal. She and Molly continued to chat amiably for the next half hour, filling each other in on what had happened since they had last seen each other. Ellen wove tales of her adventures in America, the people she had met and the different types of magic that she had seen.

As they were talking, Sirius slinked into the room. Ellen immediately stopped what she was saying to run to him and wrap him in a tight hug. Her eyes ran over every feature of his like she could burn it into her mind. Her friend looked so much older, but so much was still the same. He still had the long, black hair she had loved playing with so much and his eyes still held a mischievous glimmer at the edges.

"Paddy," she murmured against his neck. "I'm so sorry. I should have been there. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

The man simply gripped her tighter, trying to convey the emotions he couldn't bring himself to speak aloud just yet. After a few more minutes the two untangled themselves and seated themselves at the very end of the large kitchen table, grasping their hands tightly across the surface. She and Sirius soon feel into the same type of teasing conversation that they had had fifteen years earlier, leaving Molly alone to finish cooking in peace. Ellen teased him for still having the long, shaggy hairstyle of his youth and he tugged on her short reddish-brown hair in response, poking fun at her dark nails and clothing.

As time passed, the smell of stew filled the air, attracting an assortment of teenagers into the room. They drifted in and out, looking curiously at the pair immersed in conversation. Molly would shoo them almost immediately with orders to go clean something or to work on their summer homework.

Eventually the set of ginger twins that seemed to adore apparating in and out of every single room were sent to alert the others once the food was finally ready. They and three other children settled down at the table with Sirius and Ellen, only one of them without the bright red hair of a Weasley.

They stared at Ellen and Sirius in silence while she ignored them for a good five minutes. Finally she turned to them with a frown. "Do I have something on my face?"

"Who are you?" The non-ginger one blurted out, her bushy hair shaking with her words.

"Ellen Walker," she said casually, "I'm with the Order."

One of the twins gaped at her. "But you look like you're our age! Mum doesn't let us in with the Order, what makes you special?"

"Oh, I was a member back when the Order first formed." she inspected her nails as she spoke. The polish was starting to chip on her right hand, she needed to fix that soon. "Albus recruited me back this afternoon."

"But that was back in the First Wizarding War." the bushy haired witch exclaimed. "It isn't possible that you were even old enough to fight back then."

Ellen signed impatiently. "I'm not a human, I'm a Noah. And trust me, I'm much older than you are."

She turned back to Sirius who looked somewhat aggravated. She opened her mouth to speak to him again when the girl interrupted her. "But I read that Noahs are XXXX-Class Creatures!"

"And?" Ellen raised a brow at the girl. "I'm obviously not a rabid Beast. It would do you well to remember that."

The girl looked vaguely offended but didn't say anything else on the matter. They all sat in awkward silence until a few more people began to apparate in. Ellen grinned widely when Arthur Weasley arrived, shaking his hand firmly.

Conversation flowed somewhat easily after that point, if not slightly awkward due to Ellen's presence. Before long everyone was finished with their food and Molly was shooing all of them out of the room so that she could prepare it for the Order meeting.

"You couldn't resist antagonizing them?" Molly frowned at her once the last child left. "Hermione is a very bright girl, she just wanted to know more about you."

Ellen sighed deeply. "I know, but I'm just too bloody old to be interrogated by teenagers anymore. I'm only here because Albus asked me to. I would be perfectly happy back in my apartment where I know that the others have absolutely no chance of finding me."

Sirius chuckled and pulled on her hair again. "Still don't want to see your lovely Clan?"

"They're all a bunch of murderous arseholes. Not the most thrilling group to be around."

"They could have changed!" Molly insisted, "You've said yourself that you're different, who's to say that they aren't too?"

Ellen slammed her hands on the table. "I'm not going to keep having this argument with you Molly! They're not like me, they're dangerous and I refuse to put all of you in danger because I was feeling bloody nostalgic!"

She stood up and pushed the table away roughly. "Now I'm going to find whatever dusty hole I'm going to be sleeping in and you can find me when the rest of the Order is here."

Grabbing her bag from against the door, she stormed out of the kitchen and up the stairs. The third floor was just as dusty and dim as the first floor and occupied second floor had been and she found herself sneezing as she looked around trying to find a bedroom.

She couldn't understand why Molly wouldn't listen to her. It had been that way since they had first met, Molly always pushing her to fix things with the Noah and Ellen refusing to do so. Why didn't the woman realize how much danger they would be in if the others were there?

Sure, Ellen was no saintly exorcist anymore, but she had never gone around ripping people's hearts out with her bare hands!

The sound of conversation reached her ears as she continued down the hall. She frowned and made her way towards the noise. She walked up to a doorway and gently pushed the door open, the purple jewel on her left hand glowing.

"Hello?"

Ellen pushed the door completely open and all but sagged in relief. The three youngest children were sitting with cards surrounding them. "Oh, it's just you lot."

The teens frowned at her and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes. Remember, you have to adapt, she reminded herself. She shook it off and offered the trio a weak smile.

"Thought you three could have been something nasty. Sirius used to tell us horror stories about this place, so you can never be too careful." Ellen casually leaned against the door. "So, any of you know where there might be an empty bedroom. I got into a bit of a row with Molly and didn't get the chance to find out where I'm going to be sleeping."

The curly haired witch shook her head. "There's not that many places to sleep, we've all been sharing rooms."

Ellen actually did roll her eyes. "Is there at least an empty room I could fix up? Haven't really conjured anything in a while but it's worth a shot."

"You fought with our mum?" The boy asked, his eyebrows raised high.

"She's always been stubborn, never backs down once she's made up her mind." Ellen waved her hand dismissively, "Now, about that room."

The curly haired one (she really should learn their names) stood up. "I think Mrs. Weasley found an empty drawing room down the hall, you'll have to clean it out. There are doxies everywhere."

Ellen giggled lightly. "Oh, I just love doxies. Nasty little buggers, but they're dead useful when their venom doesn't really hurt you. They actually listen quite well."

Curly gaped at her. "Come on now," Ellen motioned for them to leave, "Lead the way. I haven't got all day to get it all fixed up."

She followed Curly down the hallway quietly, grinning at the nearly empty, spacious room. "Thanks kid." she patted the girl firmly on the back. "Say, since you helped me find this, you want to learn something cool?"

Curly's eyes widened and she nodded quickly, looking almost afraid to speak. Ellen reached into her heavy looking boot and pulled out a rich reddish colored wand. "The incantation is Mundomius and you just need to flick it like so, just a bit sharper than Scourgify. It's all about intent with this spell, you've got to focus on just the room or you'll end up cleaning the whole block in one go."

She grinned at the young witch's nod and flicked her wand sharply. "Mundomius!"

The room started to change before their very eyes. The thick layer of dust that had enveloped the room simply melted away, leaving the aged wallpaper and carpet looking much more colorful than they had before. The grime on the windows vanished and let a flood of dim light into the room. The young witch watched in amazement as every bit of dirt disappeared, leaving the whole room looking as if it had never been so neglected.

"Where did you learn that? I've never seen it in any book!" She turned towards Ellen with bright eyes.

Ellen chuckled. "You wouldn't find it in books. It's an old spell that a woman taught me over in America. She said it'd been in their family for generations. Sadly, she had no children to pass it on to and she couldn't bear the though of it dying with her."

"Wow.." Curly whispered, running her hands along the clean walls.

"That's nothing really," Ellen grinned, "There are so many spells that have been kept from the world, each one more interesting than the next."

She began to vanish and conjure different pieces of furniture while Curly stayed at the edge of the room, watching. The other two children made their way down the hall and stood next to Curly. Ellen ignored them and focused on her task at hand.

She furrowed her brow as she added the finishing touches to the room, numerous pillows on top of her bed, light curtain over the windows. A group of doxies rested on top of the large light fixture, cackling when Ellen waved to them. She turned to the previously dusty wardrobe that had been in the room and shrugged before changing the color to make the rest of her newly conjured furniture.

Sitting heavily on the edge of her bed, she looked up at the teens standing outside her room. "Are you going to come in or do you plan on standing there all night?"

"How did you do that?" Curly asked, eyes bright with curiosity.

"When you've been around as long as I have then you learn a few tricks." She waved them all in. "Come on, make yourself comfortable."

She flicked her wand wordlessly and three large, squishy bags appeared. The teens looked at them oddly, hesitant to sit down. "They're bean bag chairs, quite popular with muggles your age over in America right now."

They sat down and looked alarmed at how far they sunk into the chairs. Ellen chuckled at them. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot back there. I've had a nasty trip back to England and Albus was being as annoyingly vague as he always is."

"You know Headmaster Dumbledore?" the ginger girl blurted out. The boy was mouthing 'Albus?' to himself while Curly was staring at her like she was trying to solve something.

"Albus and I go way back. I've known him since he was barely out of Hogwarts. Couldn't even grow a beard back then, if you'd believe it." She laughed at the memory. "But I've got to ask you lot, what're your names? Molly was too busy scolding me to tell me."

Curly spoke for everyone. "I'm Hermione Granger and they're Ron and Ginny Weasley. We've been staying here with the Order for past few weeks."

"Knew you two were Molly's." She smiled at them. "Tell me, are there any more of you? I remember the older five from when they were ickle babies and her being pregnant with another boy, but never heard about any more."

"I'm the youngest." The little ginger-no, Ginny, said. "I don't think mum could handle any more of us."

"And you're not a Weasley," Ellen turned to Cur-no, Hermione. "So what are you? Girlfriend, friend, distant family?"

Hermione flushed a bright red. "I'm just a friend! It's safer to be here than at home for right now, that's all."

Ellen raised an eyebrow but stayed silent. The four of them sat there for what felt like years, not saying anything. She sighed loudly. "Look, if you have any questions, just go ahead and ask them now. I'm not going to say anything more than once, so get it out of your systems now."

"How old are you?" Ron spoke loudly.

"208, but I'll be 209 by the end of December."

"How do you know so much magic?" Hermione's eyes were bright with curiosity. "Can you teach us?"

"I've had too much time on my hands." She smiled. "I can show you a few, but Molly gets cross with me when I used them and I don't want to be getting you into trouble."

"How do you know Sirius?"

"We've been good mates since the first war, lost touch afterwards obviously."

"Why does your arm look like that?" blurted out Ron. "It's all black.."

"Shite." Ellen sighed. "I'm going to go ahead and assume you've learned something about Innocence during your education?"

All three nodded. "And you know about the Black Order?" Another nod. "I was an exorcist for the Black Order when I was younger. When I was born, there was Innocence imbedded into my hand, turning my whole arm into a weapon. There's no Innocence left in it though, that was all destroyed years ago. It runs exclusively on Dark Matter now. And don't ask what that is because I have absolutely no clue how to explain it."

"Where are the other Noah? Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them says that there are half a dozen of you that are still alive. You're here, where are the others?" Hermione asked.

She ran her hands through her short reddish brown hair. "You couldn't have stuck to the easy questions? Honestly though, I don't know where most of them are. I helped Jasdevit escape to America before the last battle, but they've never stood still for long. The others, well, I've done my best to hide from them."

She laughed to herself. "Shouldn't have told Newt any of this, wouldn't have if I'd known the tosser was going to publish everything. But I've always been a sucker for curly haired men that aren't good for me."

Ginny opened her mouth to say something when a loud crack interrupted her. The twins that had been suspiciously quiet since lunch landed right on top of Ron.

"Bloody hell!" he hissed, shoving them off. "You couldn't land anywhere else?"

"You see, dearest brother o'mine-" One started

"-our lovely guest has redecorated." The other one continued "So how could we know-"

"-where to land?" The first one grinned mischievously.

Ellen rubbed the bridge of her nose, the twin-speak already annoying her. "Is there something that you two need or did you come here just to take the piss out your brother?"

"Mum told us to tell you-"

"-that the Order meeting is about to start."

She sighed in resignation and rolled off her bed. "Alright, alright. Everyone out, I'll not have you messing around in my room without any type of supervision."

The twins disappeared with another loud crack as she ushered the others out, deftly locking her door behind her. She continued on past the teens without a word and loudly made her way down the stairs.

Loud voices could be heard from the kitchen and when she finally shoved the door open and entered, she was greeted by a decent group of people. There were several faces that she recognized, even though they now showed the passage of time. Some unknown faces stared back at her though, and she grinned sheepishly. She opened her mouth to say something but quickly ducked as a bright red spell flew at her. She popped back up, glaring at the wizard at the end of the table. "Honestly Alastor, that's getting a bit old."

"You've got to remain vigilant." He replied gruffly, ignoring the way she stuck her tongue out at him.

Ellen quickly sat down next to a young witch with lilac hair. "Ellen Walker, nice to meet you."

"Nymphadora Tonks. Call me Tonks." Tonks winked at her. "I've heard a bit about you, Mad-Eye over there never shut up about how good a duelist you were when he was training us."

"I knew you cared Alastor!" she called down the table, cackling at his eye roll. "I'm guessing you're new to the Order?"

"Finished my Auror training last year and when Albus Dumbledore asked, I couldn't say no." She grinned brightly. "It's absolute rubbish what the Ministry is saying about him, he's the greatest wizard I've ever met."

Ellen smiled softly. "He's always had that kind of effect on people. Molly?" she called, "Are we waiting on anyone or can we go ahead and get started?"

"Remus should be here in just a few-" Before Molly could finish her sentence, the man in question appeared with a loud crack.

She gasped quietly as she took in the appearance of her old friend. Remus looked more tired than he had before, his clothes looking worn down. Ellen shoved herself out of her chair and embraced the man tightly.

"I've missed you Moony." she whispered against his chest. "So much."

He hugged her back firmly before gently pushing her way. "We need to start the meeting. It shouldn't be long."

Ellen settled back next to Tonks with a frown on her face. She turned towards Sirius with a questioning look on her face, but all she received was a slight head shake.

Fine. They could ignore it for now, but she would find out what had changed so much. It wasn't even like she had been gone for that long, fifteen years was practically nothing. While she was lost in thought, Kingsley had started the meeting. "..we will be retrieving Potter from his relatives tomorrow night. Tonks, have you set up the diversion?"

The witch snorted. "The muggles think that they're going to an award ceremony for the best kept lawn in England. We're in the clear."

Kingsley nodded solemnly. "I want Tonks in front of Potter, Moody we need you keeping up the rear. Lupin will fly below and the rest of us will circle back to ensure we aren't followed."

He continued on. "The Ministry has continued to slander both Potter and Dumbledore. Luckily Dumbledore able to secure a trial for Potter's underage use of magic in six days. Anything else we need to cover?"

Mundungus Fletcher spoke up, looking at Ellen cautiously. "Who's the bird?"

"I'm Ellen Walker, I fought with the Order in the first war." She said, straightening her back.

The man eyed her but stayed silent. Kingsley looked between them and shook his head. "If that's all, then I believe that we're done here. We meet here again tomorrow by at least 7 p.m. to retrieve Potter."

People nodded and quickly began to apparate out of the room. Soon, all that was left was Ellen, Molly, Sirius, and Remus. The red-haired woman looked between the three and quickly excused herself.

They sat in silence for a short while before Remus spoke softly. "Ellen-"

"Don't!" She cut him off. "You don't get to show up and treat me like a bloody stranger like that. You're my friend, Remus, and you couldn't even make eye contact with me."

"Because you left." Remus said calmly, only his clenched fist showing the anger that lay under the surface. "You let us all think that you were dead and you want to show up after fifteen years and expect to be welcomed with open arms?"

Ellen gaped for a moment before looking down in resignation. "I know. I was scared, but I shouldn't have run like that. All I can say is that I'm sorry and I hope that you can find it in yourself to forgive me."

She sat there for a moment more before standing with a bright, fake smile plastered on her face. "If that's all, I'm going to go. I've got to go unpack my bag, you see. The Lord only knows how much has accumulated in that thing over the past fifteen years."

She grabbed her bag as she rushed out the door and up the stairs, the concerned calls of her once friends echoing behind her.

Ellen simply sat there on her conjured bed, staring at the peeling gray wallpaper. Eventually, she forced herself to stand and set her bag onto her bed. She unzipped the faded duffel bag and stuck her arm in all the way to her shoulder. From the bag she pulled the giant enchanted mirror that Albus had gifted her with so many years ago. She carried it over to the corner and set it down gently, adjusting it to the right angle.

"Looks like someone needs to update her charms." The mirror called out.

Ellen whipped around and studied her appearance and groaned. There were small strands of white that were beginning to appear in her hair and if she looked closely, she could see the beginnings of the red pentagram on her forehead.

She pulled her wand out of her boot and began to wave it in quick, complicated motions. It took several charms layered on top of each other just to cover her hair and even more to cover the cursed scar on her face.

"Thanks," she murmured, "you always notice before I do."

"My pleasure, Allen."

She whipped around and glared at the enchanted object. "I've told you a thousand times, don't call me that."

The mirror huffed at her but stayed silent as she unpacked the rest of her bag. Dozens of dark boots just like the ones she was wearing flew out of her bag and arranged themselves on the rack she had conjured. Her hairbrush and the like settled on the table next to her bed.

Setting her wand down on the bed, she made her way over to the wardrobe that had been in the room and yanked the doors open.

And that's the first chapter.

Honestly this entire fic is just wish fulfillment, so if you don't like it then I won't be offended. I've been having fun writing it and I really do hope that you all will like it. I'm in DESPERATE need of a beta reader, so if anyone wants to volunteer then jus P.M. me :)

Thanks!