A matter of loaf and death

[Zane Lestrange]

Zane Lestrange checked over his shoulder before slipping down the grand staircase towards the kitchens. The time was, around midnight, you could never really tell when the whole place was pitch black. As it happened, Zane was on the hunt for some hot buttered crumpets, mainly due to the fact he had been out flying again. For once he hadn't got caught, unlike last time Quidditch Practice at 2 am, detention was becoming a regular occurance.

"Lumos," he whispered as he reached the corridor that led to the Kitchens. He stepped quietly along the corridor and stopped in front of the fruit bowl painting. He tickled the pear and opened the secret door down to the kitchens. As soon as he shut the door, a swarm of house elves surrounded him with "good evening sir," and "how can we help you?" Zane treated the house elves with respect unlike the rest of his family. Still, Zane wasn't like them.

"Don't worry I'll get it myself," as he headed towards the fridge. Before he had even come with reach of the fridge, a plate of crumpets was heading towards him carried by two elves. "How did you know?" the house elves just smiled and Zane sat down at one of the tables. Soon he had a hot chocolate in one hand and a crumpet in the other, good times.

His thoughts turned to the New Order and how the new recruits were coping. He thought back to the last duelling session where he had been teaching first and second years. One of them managed to cast a charm which made their partner start growing a beard, a cause of great laughter from the rest of the group, although the poor girl didn't find it very funny. After rectifying this error, one of the second years put so much effort into it that she ended up throwing her wand at her partner. No, they certainly weren't the best he had ever trained, but in time, fingers crossed, they would improve. The DE were growing more powerful by the day, in numbers that Zane couldn't have imagined, surely they were getting outside help.

Casting his thoughts aside, he turned his attention back to the crumpets.

[Rosie Lupin]

The properties of moonstone.

Aughtn't she remember this? Wasn't this the exact essay her uncle had told her about grueling over so many years ago when he was at Hogwarts?

Frazzled and frustrated, Rosie sat up straight in her chair, wincing slightly at the resounding crack her neck made. She had to admit that she couldn't remember a bloody thing. The book she'd checked out from the library was doing nothing but confusing her further and that was something she really didn't need at the moment. After slamming the book shut and tossing it and the half-written essay into her open bookbag, she stood up, stretching and yawning, and grabbed her hooded sweatshirt, intent on sneaking down to the kitchens for a quick midnight snack before sliding into her bed up in the Gryffindor Tower and falling fast asleep.

She exited the Gryffindor Common Room quietly, her green fuzzy slippers making no noise on the stone floor of the hall. Ignoring the warnings from the Fat Lady behind her, she made her way down the Grand Staircase and into the basement, stopping only when she reached the gigantic painting of the bowl of fruit. Listening intensely for the sound of faint laughter, she tickled the pear in the lower right corner. As the portrait swung open, she noticed a familiar figure inside. Her best friend, Zane Lestrange

"Out for some late night crumpets again?" she asked from behind him, grinning broadly at the boy as she passed him. She hopped into the seat next to Zane, pulling her feet up and crossing her legs in a Zen-style position. Reaching out, she took a ripe orange from the bowl in the middle of the table and began peeling it.

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[Zane Lestrange]

"Why not? I have just been flying for two hours, and before you ask no, I didn't get caught." He replied as he caught sight of Rosie hop into the chair next to him. "Going for an orange? Sure you don't want a crumpet?" Zane motioned to the spare crumpet on the plate. "So, why are you up so late? Wait don't tell me, you've been writing an essay?" he smiled until he remembered he had a pile of homework he was supposed to get stuck into that night. Nevermind, it could wait until morning, or the night after, or the one after that.

He brushed a hand through his blond hair as his brown eyes sparkled in the candle light. "So how's the training?" he said quietly after ensuring no one was eavesdropping. He paused thinking back to the previous training session, yep he definately needed Rosie's help and urgently. He stood up to take his empty hot chocolate mug over to one of the giant sinks and then returned to the table.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie smiled at her friend.

"M'dear, have you seen the pounds those things pack on?" she asked jokingly, a playful grin flitting across her features, "My God, if you don't stop eating them, they'll kick you off the Quidditch Team. You'll be too fat to even ride a broomstick, let alone catch a Snitch while doing it. You'd better watch it, Zane."

Rosie's eyes glanced at the crumpet for a moment before turning to his next question. "Essay? Ah yes. That's that one torturous paper which makes you want to cut your own head off instead of writing it. Or reading it for that matter. Hey, you happen to know the properties of moonstone?"

The New Order. That was definitely a topic that'd been taking up a lot of Rosie's thinking time lately. They would be so unprepared should a fight break out. What could possibly happen if it came to that?

"Well..." Rosie thought for a moment, leaning in closer to him to ensure none of the house-elves could hear. But with those large ears, how could you ever be sure. "Not as well as I'd hoped. You know I'm not the best at spellwork, but compared to some of these kids, I'm a magical mastermind. Honestly, Zane, I'm starting to think we're in a little over our heads."

[Zane Lestrange]

"Go on have a crumpet, all that Quidditch makes it melt away!" Zane laughed. "Ah I have the perfect solution! If you don't east the crumpet, I'll kick you off the Quidditch Team! You honestly think I know the properties of moonstone? The only subject I understand is Defence Against the Dark Arts. Why don't you ask my sister? She would know..." He laughed once again, knowing full well that Rosie hated his sister.

Zane listened intently to Rosie's report and then said, "well we might be but we can't pull out now. That would be surrendering and letting the DE loose on the wizarding world with no force to stop them. They must be getting outside help somehow..." he trailed off glancing from the house elves to Rosie and back again. "It's ok, we can trust them, we treat them like equals the DE don't. They'll be loyal to us. In terms of practice, that is just what we need, more time, recruits and space."

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie glared at her friend amibly.

"You wouldn't..." She knew full well that he wouldn't. However, that crumpet was looking so delicious at the moment, she simply couldn't resist. She took it with an air of coolness towards her best friend, attempting to cover up the fact that she really was going to enjoy this crumpet, and took a bite. "Happy? Psychotic power freak.." she muttered, poking a little fun at the fact that he took his role as Quidditch Captain a little too seriously. Which he did. Completely and TOTALLY too seriously.

"Yeah, right," she scoffed at his proposal to go talk to his sister. How she loathed that arrogant prat. She treated Zane like crap and that in itself put her on Rosie's Top Ten Most Wanted List. "Waste my time with that bitch of a girl? No thanks. I'd rather stick my head in a flushing toilet."

Rosie sighed. "But if we keep this up all of them are in danger. They're good kids, Zane, and if anything happens to any of them, I swear, I'll..." She trailed off, a certain fire in her eyes as she continued to stare at her friend. She shook her head to clear the thoughts of her previous statements. "Look, the point is: I just don't want any of them to get hurt. If we're gonna do this, we need to set aside WAY more time for practice. The better they are at spells and such, the less chance of bad things happening to them. And we need a lot more people. If the DE is getting help from an outside source than we need to work twice as hard."

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[Teddy Lupin]

Ted Lupin yawned as he walked down the staircase. It may of been late, but still, Teddy hate not had enough to eat. Another point was that Rose and Zane seemed to missing from the common room this evening. Zane he expected this from, but he didn't think little old Rose Weasley had it in her sometimes. Then again, you had to look at her father, and the fact that she was second in command of the new order, well that was something big. Another yawn escaped his mouth and Ted's turquoise hair turning to a dulling purple, which it usually did when he began tired.

He had been up, writing a Defense Against the Dark Art's essay, well more like revising it. It had taken him most of the evening, but it was worth it, since he got to help the cute girl from his Mythical Creature's Class out with some of that homework after he was done. What was her name again? Oh, he couldn't be bother, she was just another dunce anyways. He remembered his uncle and godfather saying he got this side of him from his mother side, that his father couldn't be imagined to act in such a behavior. But he was completely hopeless. Ted was still out searching for Ms. Right, it was just a matter of finding her was all.

As he tickled the pear, he heard a faint conversation coming from inside. Ah, he had found them, of course. Where else did Zane go after a midnight practice? He smiled became crooked as he walked over to the pair, and took the seat across from Zane, his hand reaching out for an apple. "So what did I miss? Any juicy gossip?" Ted asked chuckling, taking a large bit of his green apple, his hair immediately turning back to its turquoise color.

[Zane Lestrange]

"Yes, I guess I'm a contented psychotic power freak. And you know I wouldn't chuck you off the Quidditch Team. I might start making that a part of the try-outs, all team members must eat crumpets on a regular basis and come flying with their crazy captain at two o'clock in the morning, regardless of the consequences..." He laughed at the thought of the team practicing at 2 am, crumpets in hand and hardly awake. It was true, he did take Quidditch far too seriously but hey, he had a lot to live up to. Come on, the youngest seeker in 100 years had captained his team and the legendary Oliver Wood, even Zane wasn't as keen as him. Was he?

"You never know you might be soul mates and then you would start to like her and then..." he was interrupted by being unable to continue due to laughing so hard. This was mainly due to an image that had just appeared in his mind of Rosie and Kianthra skipping beside the black lake discusing how many calories there were in crumpets.

He managed to stop laughing as he heard Rosie mention the new recruits. " I know, I know, you'll kill me right? But it won't come to that extreme, hopefully, because I think I have actually found a time and a place when we can practice. You know how I go out flying at two in the morning..." he paused to see if Rosie would get his point without the need for further explanation and then continued, "yes I know we need to work twice as hard and that the odds are against us and all that jazz... but I really think I have found the solution."

He turned to see Teddy enter the kitchens and sit opposite them. " Hey Teddy, no you haven't missed any gossip apart from the fact that Rosie just ate a crumpet. I'm assuming that you just over heard our conversation about training. Any input?"

[Rosie Lupin]

"Sure as hell you wouldn't," Rosie answered cheekily with a sense of mocking arrogance, "Because, after all, I'm the best you've got."

That wasn't completely true, though. Zane himself was perhaps the best he had. His skill as a Seeker rivaled that of even the great Harry Potter. Of course, Rosie wasn't too bad herself. She rather took after her two rambunctious uncles in the field of Quidditch, even if she was more like her father in most other fields.

"Oh, shut your trap," she grumbled good-naturedly as he continued to laugh at his image of Kianthra and his friend skipping together, "Or I'll shove that crumpet down your throat. And then the New Order would be in some serious trouble, with it's leader stuck in the Hospital Wing."

"I wouldn't kill you, Zane, m'dear," Rosie answered, thinking over his proposition as she spoke, "Just rip off your head and throw your body in a lake full of alligators. And hope you survive. And yes, hun, I know you go flying at two in the morning, which you probably should stop. You do need your sleep after all. You're a growing boy..." Her little flit of maternal chatter signified that she understood what he was talking about. However, she wasn't so sure about the idea.

"Hullo Teddy." Rosie greeted her friend as he entered, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "I do rather like it turquiose. Although, you should try indigo sometime. It'd look quite charming on you." She patted the seat next to her, signaling to the boy to sit down next to her.

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[Zane Lestrange]

" I know you are that's why I decided against chucking you off the team. But still if you happen to fall off your broom due to your head becoming too large, I'm sure we'll cope with a team of the remaining mediocre players. I know you are a league above us in terms of talent Rosie, but that doesn't mean that you can't be replaced. Actually maybe..." he said referring to a student in his second year who was appauling at Quidditch through no fault of his own, " yes Summers could replace you". He smiled again knowing that another threat to decapitate him in some way would soon be hurled in his direction.

"I think I'll have to watch you Rosie with all these death threats your giving me. Well if that unfortunate event comes to pass, it shall be you, the Second In Command, to guide the New Order through the troubled times. Rather ironic really, the one who put the leader in the hospital wing is the one who has to cope with the aftermath." He laughed once more as she went on to speak about alligators.

"There's never anyone around though, the school is deserted. It is really quiet and there would be no one around to stop our practice time. It would only be two nights a week, but don't you see how much more time that would give us? I only need a few hours sleep, and any way you know that it only happens when we are leading up to a big match or I am thinking about the New Order." Zane said calmly to his acting-mother.

[Teddy Lupin]

"Hullo Zane, Rosie." he smiled, shuddering away from Rosie as she ruffled his hair. Turquoise was his signature color, but with a request such as these he would, if you were the right person, and if Teddy just felt like putting on a show. He slumped down against his chair, and with a wave of his finger, he pointed to his newly transformed indigo hair. "Well Rosie? What do you think? Personally, I rather just keep it turquoise." he chuckled, changing his hair back to it's signature.

"And training is training. It's hard for anyone at the start, unless you're freaking amazing at everything. This kids are only just starting off at magic, it will take some time for them to learn. If this kids began whipping out full fledged patronomus's, we'd be gods. Since we aren't we'll just have to deal with what they give us for now." Teddy said, placing the core of his apple on the table. A house elf scurried over and Teddy thanked him before continuing. "Now Rosie, if you're still having difficulty training them, I'd be happy to help. Harry gave me a few pointers about teaching people spells after he heard about the New Order." he grinned, taking one of Zane's crumpets.

"I'm starting to think that if I don't separate you two now, we'll be having some kind of war upon us." he smiled, taking a bite of his crumpet. "I'm not going to even ask who started it, nor do I want to know. Who knows what that will start." Teddy chuckled, enjoying their little fight.

[Zane Lestrange]

" The indigo is, how shall I put it, different? I think I prefer the turquoise. Anyway, I think your right but still we need extra practice time. Some of the older ones are coming along nicely though, maybe we could enlist them to help as well. Teddy, of course you can help, especially if Harry gave you some pointers." He paused for thought, the famous Harry Potter knew about the New Order, well at least something was going right for once. But that also means he knows about the DE. It really was as if history was repeating itself, but this time they weren't making the same mistakes.

Zane smiled as another one of the crumpets disappeared from the plate, " don't worry Teddy, if we end up in a full scale war, you can always take control of the New Order, after all you are the first of the five. Come to think of it, I might assign you to help teach the first years but maybe you could give coaching tips to the older students so they can't help teach as well... Look, the DE are getting too strong, we have to act quickly, maybe we could use a time turner? Oh but the ministry would never allow it after all that trouble decades ago. There must be something..."

[Teddy Lupin]

Teddy chuckled at Zane's amusement to his godfather's knowings of the war. Of course he knew about it. But he knew Zane was still amazed by the fact that he and most of his family had easy connections with the Harry Potter. The leader of the Golden Trio. To him, it was nothing. He saw the infamous trio every holiday, and much over the summer. He tended to enjoy his summers at the Potter house, much more exciting then his grandmother's.

"Zane, you must calm down. Yes, the new Death Eaters are growing, but so are we. They are building as we are. Trust me, I'll make sure the new ones will be firing of patranomus before you know it. I do after all, find DADA one of my strongest course, I'd be glad to help." he smiled, thinking about his future lessons. Teddy had always thought about becoming a professor, but after being accepted into Auror training, all of those thoughts passed by him. he smiled to himself, remembering when Harry and Ron found out the news, how happy they were for him.

And this reminded Teddy of something. How happy your father would be if he could see you now Ted. Harry had told him, after giving him the news. His father, a member of the orginal Order of the Phoenix, and Harry's Defensive Against the Dark Arts teacher in his third year. Of course he wouldn't have difficulty teaching. It was in his blood after all. "I'm eager to help out Zane, when ever you need me, I'll be there to help. The DE doesn't stand a chance." Teddy smiled, finishing off the crumpet.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah, sorry, Ted, indigo really isn't your color," she said, laughing and turning her head to the side. "Maybe purple. Or red!" She paused for a moment, still scrutinizing. Finally, she waved her hand as though to bat away unwelcome ideas. "Don't mind me. I'll shut up now. Hair styling is definitely not my calling."

Rosie turned a knowning eye onto her chuckling friend, Teddy. The two of them were pretty much as close as family. She'd played with him for all of her childhood as well as seen him practically every day during the summer. Her parents had been the closest of friends with the famous Harry Potter during their school days, and the three tended to get together a lot. Ron and Hermionie liked to drag along their two children, Rosie and her brother Hugo to these meetings, lunches, and playdates. Of course, it wasn't exactly dragging. Rosie loved her visits to the Potter household, and even though Hugo complained, Rosie knew he loved those visits too.

Rosie was shaken out of her reverie of remembrance of the fine days of her childhood by the more pressing matter at hand at the current time. The New Order. And their rival, the DE. "Oh, come on, Teddy, are you honestly that naive? They have help! From an outside source! And half our recruits are kids young enough to still be riding toy broomsticks. You have any idea what happens if there's a battle now? Those kids get hurt, or worse: die. And it's our fault."

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[Teddy Lupin]

"Naive am I? I'm well aware of their outside help, and I'm sure the famous Trio would be more then welcome to help us out." Teddy grinned, leaning back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Not to mention the rest of our family as well." he smiled, closing his eyes. A small yawn escaped his mouth, and with it his hair became a bit more dull. Eugh, he needed a wake up call. He moved to get up and grab himself a hot chocolate, but a house elf had already brought him a cup.

"Always on your toes Dilbie." Ted smiled, taking the steaming cup from the house elf's hands. "Always a pleasure sir." Dilbie smiled, heading back off into the kitchen to prepare who knows what else. Ted sighed and took a sip of his hot chocolate, changing his hair color, trying to wake himself up. Eventually he stopped and rested at his turquoise color, still in deep thought.

"You guys have no assurance in our members. Really, they are a great bunch of kids, and with a little more training, I'm sure they'll be fine. I say start with a few defensive spells and work are way from there." Ted said. He really didn't understand why Zane and Rosie were having so many doubts. Heck, Harry told him that his students had been the same way when he started their training. How bad could this really be?