The Marauders - Order of the Phoenix - Part Two

Dorcas Meadowes Goes for Coffee

The fight at the Rowle residence was in full swing by the time Dumbledore, the Scamanders, McGonagall, Urquart, Frank, Alice, Dorcas and the Prewett twins arrived. There was broken furniture flying about and windows had been blasted free of glass. The moment they'd stepped through the door, Dorcas and Gideon had been blasted by a flying bit of stairwell that had knocked them both to the floor, and Dorcas had let out a shriek as her back slammed into a couch. Bellatrix Lestrange cackled and danced about, one of the only recognizable death eaters - even with her mask, there was no hiding her voice, energy, and outrageous hair. There were spells exchanged between both sides as the fighting wore on. But the loosing side was clear rather quickly and the Death Eaters scattered when they saw Albus Dumbledore burst through the front door of the residence, the house elves taken to hiding long before that point, scared of the fighting. The fight had simmered from a full blown battle into a clean up of the captured fighters and taking inventory on the Order members injured within minutes after Dumbledore set a spell that blew a burst of power so strong it knocked the wands out of every hand around him - including Moody's and Remus's who were arguably the strongest two wizards present, besides Dumbledore himself, that is.

Sirius was limping, and Remus was watching him concerned. Jasper had run to Meg Johnson's side and found she'd been hexed badly and her leg bore a large gash that ran from the outside of her left knee around to the right side of her left ankle in a curling fashion as though she'd been struck by a jagged whip. Jasper and Marlene together took Meg to Mungo's. Dorcas and Gideon were trying to rouse Edgar Bones, who lay on the floor where Thorfinn Rowle had flattened him in the first moments of the battle beginning. He didn't wake with the ennervate, but Dorcas had found a pulse relatively strong, so there was no telling what sort of injury Bones had suffered.

"You ougth to be checked, too," Remus told Sirius as Sirius winced and limped about.

"You can check on me later," Sirius said, trying to turn his wince into a smirk, though not entirely successfully. Remus wondered if it was his imagination that Sirius's voice might be a couple octaves higher than usual. "Or perhaps maybe give me a day or two before you check, huh?"

Remus shook his head. "You're ridiculous."

"No, I'm Sirius."

Moody marched about, looking over the others carefully. "I'd call this a success," he declared.

Tina Scamander raised an eyebrow. "A success? We haven't captured You Know Who... and this clearly isn't his headquarters, it's just an ambush -- they knew we were coming, just like Gideon said they would."

"No but we got a couple of his men -" Moody waved a palm at Rowle and four other masked figures that had been neutralized during the fight - three of which were Remus Lupin's work. "And we can dragnet a bit of information from them back at the Ministry before we send them to Azkaban to rot under the dementor's feedings."

Sirius felt a chill travel down his spine and imagined Achlys billowing about in the cavity around his heart ominously.

"Sirius!" He looked about for who was calling his name, half thinking it had been Achlys, but nobody was looking at him - Remus was looking about, too, for the source of the voice when it called again, "SIRIUS!"

"Isn't that James?" Remus asked, confused.

Sirius lit up and reached into his leather jacket's pocket, removing the bit of mirror. James stared out from the reflection, a panicked look in his eyes, Lily right beside him, their faces pressed together to both peer through. "Oh my stars, you're alright!" Lily gasped, seeing him.

"Yes, I'm alright!" Sirius announced.

"Lily thought you might've been hurt."

"Not badly - just down for a minute!"