A matter of loaf and death

[Zane Lestrange]

" Yes, they're cooking up a plan, it's going to be massive. I read one of her owls from home by accident seems like the Malfoys are on board, well Narcissa and Lucius are. If there's a battle now, we will lose, suffer a great number of injuries and then we won't be able to stop the DE. Yes you two could hold your own, but we're talking about the first years, like Rosie said. There is no way that we would be able to beat them." Zane said as his paced around the table, a habit of his when he was trying to think of a solution. It often happened during Quidditch pep talks as Rosie well knew.

The pacing continued, round and round the table and then a sudden change in direction. Thinking out loud he said, " what if...no that wouldn't work. How about, no they've tried that. What we need... is... a miracle," he concluded. Unless they could magically improve the duelling skills of the younger students they were doomed to failure.

[Rosie Lupin]

"Help from the Golden Trio," Rosie said, leaning forward against the table, her legs still crossed, indian-style on her chair, "Not a bad idea. I like your thinking, Teddy, m'dear." She winked playfully at him before turning her eyes on Zane and groaning. "My God, Zane, stop with the pacing already! I see enough of it at Quidditch Practice, I don't need my night hours haunted by it as well. Besides, you're bound to get a shin splint that way. Come and sit down. We'll think of something..."

She thought for a moment, her chin rested on the heel of her hand. "I got nothing," she stated after a moments silence. "Honestly guys, how are we gonna protect them. Sure, they're great for first and second years, but against the DE? This is insane. I think it IS time to call on the Golden Trio."

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[Teddy Lupin]

Ted sighed as he watched Zane paced back and forth. "Zane, you have to calm down. Seriously, am I the only optimistic person right now? Our league isn't filled with second and first years is it? Seriously, if they don't show progression by the time the war comes, they can sit out. We don't want them to be sitting ducks after all." Ted said, placing his cup down on the table. He swished the liquid inside for a moment, pulling his thoughts together.

"You guys have many doubts in this first years. Really, do you remember your first couple of years at Hogwarts at all? We weren't completely hopeless at coming up with spells, or at least I wasn't, not sure about you two." he grinned mischievously before continuing. "Listen, these kids have great potential, you got to stop putting them down. They'll pull through, you'll see." Ted said, taking a full sip of this hot chocolate.

"And if all comes to all, we can send a letter to Harry and explain the situation. They'll probably gather everyone and storm Hogwarts just like they did in the Great War. This isn't a lost cause guys, we will win this battle." Ted said with confidence that his friends just didn't seem to have at the moment.

[Rosie Lupin]

"Teddy, anyone going up against the DE has the odds stacked pretty high against them. Even us three aren't exactly safe against them," she looked at the other two, worriedly. Out of the three of them, she seemed to be the most maternal. Perhaps it was because she was the girl, but for some reason she always found herself worrying over the two boys. They could be so reckless some of the time, and it was hard to stop them.

She snorted loudly at his mention of her first years at Hogwarts. "Me? I was a tranwreck in my first years at Howarts. Hell, I couldn't even do a simple Levitating Spell until third year. My God, if you want to compare the first and second years to anyone compare them to Zane. He, at least, can do DADA pretty damn well. I, on the other hand, am a complete failure."

Rosie rolled her eyes at Teddy.
"Stop being so optimistic, Ted. You're making me sick. I know we're gonna win it. We just need to be safe. And well prepared."

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[Zane Lestrange]

" I don't doubt their ability, it's just some can't tell one end of a broomstick from the other. There's some talented first years I admit that, but they have been training with the forth years. We need someone to help the less experienced ones. If it comes to a full on war, even the people who sit out will be attacked and do you want them not being able to defend themselves?" Zane paused in his pacing, thinking about asking the Golden Trio.

"I am perfectly calm, but your not the one who's going to get it in the neck if we fail... or aren't you accquainted with my sister? They aren't going for defence spells, I've seen them practicing unforgiveable curses, I know what it's like. Do you know what it feels like to be put under the Crutiatus Curse?" He paused, he had never told anyone that before. True everyone thought that Kianthra was horrible but... he shrugged off the thoughts and continued, "We are outnumbered, and I'm usually a positive person, the DE have twenty to each one of ours."

He decided to sit down on the floor, declining the offer of sitting at the table. Head in his hands he thought through all the plans he had put in place and any ideas he had developed. " Ok, I have a plan. Teddy - master of Defence Against the Dark Arts, as you say you are, will instruct the first and second years. I'll take on the older students and Rosie can assist both of us. If it comes to a war, I agree with Teddy, we'll write to Harry, but they have their own problems to deal with, so that's a last resort."

[Teddy Lupin]

Teddy nodded his head, listening to both Rosie and Zane's words. "Okay you two, I agree. And you know I'm handy with my wand Zane, you don't have to poke fun." he chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "And a couple of first and second years, well this shall be a time if I do say so myself. I look forward to training them." Teddy smiled, grabbing a cookie from a plate. He smelt it before he took a bite into and sighed with satisfaction.

"I'll write to my godfather tomorrow and tell him of our plans, just so can be prepared if need be. I doubt we'll have to call for assitance though, by the time I'm done with this newlings they will know which end of their broom goes up." he grinned fiercely, taking another bite of his cookie.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie smiled, her chin resting on both her hands, elbows rested lightly on the table. How optimistic could they get? The New Order was outnumbered twenty to one and the DE was so much better prepared. However, the New Order had Harry Potter on its side. And the rest of the veterans who'd fought in the Final Battle, and won. So really, if worse came to worse, they'd still have her parents and Teddy's godfather to fall back on, as well as the rest of the original DA.

"Alright, sounds like a plan to me," she said, grabbing a cookie from the plate and nibbling on it like a squirrel. She grabbed a mug of hot chocolate from a passing house elf, raining her thanks on the little fellow before turning to her friend. "Drink to it?" She held up her mug and grinned at the two of them.

"To the New Order."

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[Zane Lestrange]

Zane stood up and grabbed a mug of hot chocolate from the same elf.

"The New Order"

As he said this he was sure he heard footsteps coming along the corridor. He waited to hear for the sound of the laughing pear. None came. He looked over his shoulder at the door waiting for it to creep open, leading whoever it was into the kitchen and interrupting their secret meeting.

Sure enough, the sound of the laughing pear echoed through the kitchens and the door began to open. A familiar voice split the silence, " get out of the way". Zane gulped, he knew that voice, and sure enough round the edge of the door came his sister Kianthra, and she looked as if she was in a foul mood.

[Kianthra Lestrange]

The 7th year Slytherin eyed her brother with contempt as she swept across the floor, house elves running from her path. Her blonde hair was of course, immaculate and her pretty face wasn't suited to one of her personality. She remained silent, staring at the group, scrutinizing their every move. If one of them so much as looked away, she would stare at them before moving onto her next victim. She already had her wand ready by her side, as if she expected trouble, however she knew she was stronger than all three of them, but still outnumbered. If only Scorpius was here... or her dear friend Charlotte. These three wouldn't be smiling then.

Finally she spoke, " So, baby brother, what are you doing here with the Weasel and the Wolf?" her voice was barely louder than a whisper, but they heard her clearly. "Bringing down the family name once more? Didn't I warn you about the consequences?" her eyes followed her brother as he looked away, obviously reliving that particularly painful memory. It wasn't as if he hadn't deserved it, after all he was a traitor to the house of Lestrange and all that it stood for. Surely that was enough? But no, he had to form the NO, a pitiful excuse for an organisation. She walked around to the side of them and picked up an apple from the fruit bowl and silently pocketed it.

"And you," she said turning her attention to Teddy and Rosie, "are pathetic, a waste of space. Not even worth the ground you're standing on. A metawolf and a member of the biggest family of blood traitors ever known. You do pick your friends well don't you." she said switching her attention to Zane for a few seconds. "I know... I know all your plans. No I was not eavesdropping, you, my dear brother, have a traitor in your rebellion. You don't stand a chance." The menace and spite was clear in her words, the fear of her apparent due to the house elves cowering in a corner.

"Even the teachers are turning to our cause," she whispered, referring to the imperius curses the new potions master and herbology teacher had been casting. But of course, the NO knew nothing of that. "You, my dearest brother, should be afraid. Even the bain of the Dark Lord's life, Potter, could not defeat us now. You don't understand how much power we have, how much power we intend to release into the world, and you never will."

She stepped back and paused before continuing in the small volume of voice as before, "history is repeating itself."

[Teddy Lupin]

"The New Order!" Teddy called, clinking his glass to the rest if his friends. He took a long sip of his drink before he heard the pear laughing by the tickling of someone. The hairs on his neck stood up when her voice crept into the room. Oh goodness. This could only mean nothing good was about to come of this. He turned in his spot and glared at Kianthra, knowing how mean she could be, especially to her brother. But when she began to speak to him and Rosie in such a way, the wolf DNA in him began to unleash, and a low growl erupted in Teddy's chest.

"Listen here Lestrange. You have no right to treat your brother this way and you know it. He is better then anyone in your family could ever be. Yes, that includes mine, since my mother was the child of a Black, like your precious mother, if she can be called that." he growled. He knew he was also speaking about Zane's mother, but really, she did kill both of his parents after all. "My father and mother fought hard in the battle, killing many Death Eaters. Your mother was just following her great leader like the rest of his frighten followers. You really can't say anything about Rosie either Kianthra, her grandmother was the one who killed your mother." he growl again, standing up now.

"And if history is repeating itself, then good. If I remember correctly, we are the ones who won that battle, not the Death Eaters. We will stand victorious in the end, and you know that." Teddy snapped, still glaring at Kianthra. He would have to apologize to Zane later about the things he said about his mother, but right now, after what she said, he was still boiled.

[Rosie Lupin]

Rosie clinked her mug with the two boys on either side of her, drinking deeply before laughing merrily and delving into a bout of idle chatter. For the moment, their serious talk about the New Order was over, and they were free to tease and joke like best friends have a tendency to do. Unfortunately, a rather unpleasant specimen happened to interfere with their merriment.

Kianthra Lestrange was exactly the type of person Rosie loved to hate. Such the perfect example of a Slytherin. Arrogant and vain to the point of just being irritating. But Rosie knew she was also deadly. From the sounds of reports the New Order'd gotten on the DE, Kianthra was in its inner circle. A girl in the inner workings of one of the most dangerous groups of people in the history of the Wizarding World was not exactly a smart person to be on the bad side of.

But how could Rosie help it? With the hate that was spewing out of the girl's mouth, it was all she could do to hold her tongue and not spit anything back that she would regret later. She hoped her comrades would simply ignore the girl and follow her lead. However, that hope was soon dashed when Teddy opened his mouth.

Rosie bit her lip unhappily. Fighting back against such poison as Kianthra had in her was definitely not a good thing to do. After Teddy'd finished his ranting session, she turned to him, giving him a pleading look. Good God, she hoped he would get it. If they didn't want a duel or anything too serious, they were gonna have to keep their mouths quiet and get out of her as soon as possible. Talking back could only make such a person as Kianthra worse.'

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[Charlotte Riddle]

Charlotte began tapping her nails impatiently on her arm chair. Yet another sleepless night, not that it really bothered her too much. The reason for her insomnia was excitement, and the only explanation for her irate behavior was that she had put off all her blasted and completely useless homework. She had no time to waste on useless assignments when there was still work to be done. None the less, she still could not hold back her morbid excitement, the training was going excellent, and they even had teachers, however unwillingly, on their side.

She closed her last book shut and rolled up all her parchment, even she would not leave homework undone. She left her things with her robe, knowing that no one in the common room would have the gusto to actually take anything of hers. She walked out of the commons and wandered, as she often did; Finding herself right down the hallway to the kitchen. She paused and stood in front of the painting entrance, she tickled the fruit, her laugher ringing along with it as the door opened. The small secret of the fruit was one of those things that constantly amused her about this place. She walked in quietly, the tone of four very different voices hitting her small ears.

She grinned knowing that one of them belonged to one of her closer-then-most friend. She listened to the arguing simply smiling. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she spotted the Lestrange boy. Oh, how she detested him, with every fiber of her being. It was absurd that he actually believed his little NO would beat out her Death Eaters. She slowly formed her face into a masked expression.

She could not afford to let any of those three know the true fury she felt towards them. All they knew about her was that she was a Slytherin and she of course had some connection to the DE. If only they knew where she really stood in the eyes of her peers. For now though, she would stick to letting Kianthra do the talking at the moment. Charlotte enjoyed the frustration she brought out of others.

“Hello, Kianthra.” She took the last few steps toward her, simply staring into her eyes for a few moments. She assumed she would understand perfectly that Charlotte would not speak a word, she was only there to watch and listen.

[Zane Lestrange]

"Teddy, you need to relax. She wants you to get angry." Zane said quietly so that only Teddy could hear it. "Don't worry, I'm not offended," he smiled and then turned to face his sister.

"Ki, first of all don't insult my friends. They are trustworthy and brave which is more than can be said for the little group of followers that you hang around with. The family name of Lestrange, there's nothing left, it died with our father and no amount of plotting and scheming will bring it back to its former glory. As for a traitor in our organisation, there isn't one, all the New Order members are loyal to our cause and have no reason to side with you." He paused for a few moments glancing from Kianthra to Rosie to Teddy.

"Unfortunately for you, I don't fear you and I never will. I know you too well Kianthra, I know your weakness,". An image of a gryffindor tie flashed in his mind, though he did not reveal its owner's name, that would be low, even by Kianthra's standards. "Teddy is right, if history is repeating itself, it is you who should be afraid." He stared into her identical pair of eyes until he heard the sound of the pear being tickled.

The door opened with a creeking sound and in stepped Charlotte. "Oh great,"he whispered to Rosie and Teddy, "I think we might have to fight our way out of this one. But let's just see if we can walk out without resorting to a full on duel. Teddy, control your temper." He straightened up and stared at Charlotte just a she said something to Kianthra.

[Kianthra Lestrange]

Kianthra shifted her attention back to Teddy, "You dare to insult my family and heritage?" she whispered although no anger was portrayed through her voice. "Who are you to talk? A metawolf, lonely and full of anger and hatred. You would do well in the DE...perhaps you would be interested in joining us?" Of course she had no intention of allowing him to join, she simply said it to see if she could get a reaction from him. She continued, " Ah yes, the most noble and ancient house of Black, a common bond we both share. Don't you see how similar we really are?"

At the mention of Rosie, she turned to face the girl. She knew that Rosie was on the verge of hurling some kind of abuse back at her. When none came she said, "So, now the blood traitor. I have a particularly strong hatred of you since it was your grandmother who killed my mother. However, she never found my father did she? He was there. Fighting along side the Dark Lord, many pathetic Order members slain. Did you know my father helped my mother to kill your parents?" she said as she turned back to Teddy. "They didn't stand a chance, it was inevitable."

She heard the sound of the pear laughing once more and caught sight of Charlotte. Without a word, she simply nodded and continued, knowing that she would not intervene, "For once my brother has given some sound advice, you should listen to him, your bad temper will not get you anywhere metawolf. I think you will find, brother, that the house of Lestrange is rising again along with all the other families who support out cause. All that power, which you could not even dream of...you should fear me, fear us. That certain weakness of mine appears to be the weak link in your chain. How do you know that he is not a traitor? He is after all, a member of your organisation. Correct?" She paused and glanced from person to person, stopping finally on her brother.

"You have no idea," she whispered.

[Teddy Lupin]

The words flew his head as one by one they began speaking again. He listened to Zane and closed his eyes, his hair that had been becoming a bright red began to fade back to his calm turquoise color. He listened to Kianthra words, knowing she was just going to try and push him over the edge. "No thanks cousin, I'll think I'll pass for now. I'm quiet happy here with your brother." he managed, holding back his anger, his hair would flare a bit of red everyone once and a while. Eventually his hair became a purplish blue color, due to him holding back both of his emotions. He knew it would be the same color that his mother's was usually.

"I may be a.. metawolf, good portmanteau, but I am not lonely, and I do have a temper that I got from my father's genes, but I can control that most of the time. How can I be lonely when I have all these friends and all this family that I get to spend my time with? Truly, I have a hard time trying to be by myself." he said, his voice calming, but his eyes were piercing into Kianthra's.

But as she spoke to Zane about this person, he became confused. Were they talking about him? Or someone else? His chest rose, taking unnecessarily large breathes, nervous. It was also quiet a calming process. "Zane, who does your sister speak of?" he asked, still glaring at Kianthra. He was probably being blunt about the situation, but most of his thoughts have been taken over by his emotions of rage. Wolf genes weren't ready to be calmed down yet.