three; THE RESISTANCE

Lennon and Prudence sat quietly with a glass of wine on the benchtop in front of each of them with the bottle cracked open between them. They sat in an odd silence, which was rare for them because they both always had something to talk about. However, awaiting the arrival of the person who was going to bring them to a safe house where they were joining an illegal resistance against one of the evilest wizards of the age, had rendered them to silence.

"What'd you reckon would happen if we got caught?" Prudence finally asked as the clock ticked over to six, and Lennon shrugged, raising her glass to her lips and polishing off the rest of her drink.

"Probably get a life sentence to Azkaban or something." She responded lightly.

The younger girl looked unsurprised by the answer but still slightly disappointed, as though she was hoping for a different answer but knew it wouldn't come. So when the knock on the door came, the sister's shared a look before Prudence got to her feet and crossed the length of the floor.

As she reached to grab the doorknob, she looked over at Lennon.

"It's worth it." She didn't phrase it as a question but Lennon nodded as though she had, and Prudence smiled as she turned back. The door open to reveal Remus Lupin on the other side of the threshold as well as a person with a shock of bubblegum pink curls that caused a grin to spread across Lennon's face.

"Wotcher, Bradbury's."

Remus sighed, a singular trace of amusement on his face as Lennon jumped from the stool, and rushed toward the couple and Tonks bustled past Remus in order to meet the woman halfway.

"Merlin, it's been ages," Lennon exclaimed as they threw their arms around one another and embraced tightly, rocking side to side as grins lit up their faces.

"You look amazing." Tonks beamed once they had pulled apart, and they got a good look at the woman that they hadn't seen in a little over two years, eyes lingering at the new tattoos that littered her arms and hands.

"Oh yeah, well, impending divorce does that to you." Lennon grinned widely, "You look incredible and that pink? Divine my darling!"

"Thought I would try something new." Tonks responded before they scrunched their nose and when their hair flashed a few colours before settling back on the pink, they clapped their hands together, "We ready to go?"

"Whenever you are," Prudence confirmed with a nod.

Remus smiled at the two sisters who looked both different yet entirely similar in both looks and mannerisms. He cleared his throat once as he rifled through his pocket before procured a slip of parchment where he handed it to Prudence who stood closest to him.

"Both of you read this, memorise it and then one of you needs to burn it." He instructed, "Do you have any floo powder available?"

"Just behind you." Lennon pointed out while she wandered to her sister's side. She peered over her shoulder at the parchment, and as the man had turned to get the pot, she read the neat scrawl.

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

Lennon repeated the address twice in her head and focused on it while she watched Remus hold the pot out to Tonks, who grabbed a handful of powder with a wide grin. As Lennon grabbed her own handful, she watched as Prudence pulled a small lighter from her pocket and lit the parchment ablaze.

"See ya there." Tonks exclaimed brightly before they stepped into the fireplace, "Twelve Grimmauld Place."

There was a flash of green, the Tonks was gone, and Lennon took their place, throwing the powder down as she shouted the address that her friend had.

As expected, she felt the urge to vomit as she began to spin and she flinched as her elbow scraped against the brick of an unknown fireplace but she kept her eyes shut until the spinning began to slow and she tripped her way out of the fireplace.

Landing harshly onto some tiles, she groaned in pain before she pushed herself up, and got to her feet. Another groan fell from her lips when she noticed the large scrap down her arm after she felt a stinging sensation.

"Was there a reason we couldn't apparate at all?" She muttered after she'd gotten to her feet and dusted the soot from her jeans and tank.

"Too many people coming and going from the front apparently." Tonks shrugged with a smile, "Trying to avoid suspicious activity."

Lennon nodded at her answer while she glanced around the room she and Tonks were in, a kitchen by the looks of it and she frowned due to the disgusting state of it.

"Where the hell are we?"

"Well, it's headquarters for the Order but, according to Lupin, it used to be home to the Black family to which Sirius Black kindly lent it to Dumbledore." Tonks explained and when they noticed Lennon's bulged eyes, quickly added, "Ooh, by the way, he's not actually guilty of any of the stuff he was imprisoned for, was framed, course I haven't met him yet and Mum never believed it but Dumbledore and Lupin explained to me that he was framed."

Lennon whistled lowly at the new information and of course, she had tons of questions but if Dumbledore was sure of the innocence of the escapee and well enough to bring him into the Order, who was she to judge? But she couldn't speak any further due to the fire sparking and her sister tumbling into the kitchen with a laugh.

"Merlin, I love that."

Lennon rolled her eyes in amusement at her sister's excitement over the floo network while Prudence quickly got to her feet, and Remus stepped out soon after, leaving the four of them standing in the disgusting kitchen.

"Cleaning is starting tomorrow." Remus spoke softly as he gestured for the three to follow him up the staircase, "It's just been Sirius and I here for the last week, and occasionally his niece comes by. Dumbledore stopped by to do warding once but we've only really touched base on the dining room so we had a place for the meetings."

"Sorry, Sirius?" Prudence asked.

"Yeah, that Sirius." Lennon murmured to her, "Not guilty, by the way, though I'm unsure how."

"It's a long story, that we'd rather explain once." Remus told them as he reached the door at the top of the staircase, "There's a screaming portrait in the hall, please stay as quiet as you can so not to set it off."

He opened the door and once they all left the kitchen, Lennon glanced around the hallway in mild disgust due to the odd smell. The oil lamps that were flickering poorly through the dirt and grim, the peeling wallpaper, and moth ridden carpet beneath her feet. The three remained quiet as the followed Remus a short distance down the wall, toward the soft hum of voices.

It appeared as though they were some of the last to arrive as the room as there were a least two dozen people milling about, making short conversation, and few glanced up to see the new faces that entered but none seemed like they were going to step forth and make introductions and Lennon wasn't about to do that either.

A man entered from another door, and Prudence squeaked a little in fear when he spotted them and bustled over.

"Moony, what a turnout!" Sirius Black exclaimed excitedly, looking absolutely nothing like he did in the wanted posters that splashed the brick walls in the wizarding communities, and villages and at least once a month in the newspapers.

"Sirius, this is Nymphadora Tonks," Remus said with a nod toward the Metamorphmagus who's hair began to burn a bright red which had Sirius doing a quick double-take with wide eyes.

"It's just Tonks." They responded. Their hair faded into a soft lilac before they smiled brightly at the Azkaban escapee, "Wotcher."

"Right, I'm sorry." Remus spoke apologetically, "Tonks."

"Nym..." Sirius trailed off when their hair began to redden again and he reiterated quite quickly when he noticed, "Andromeda's kid?"

"That's me, nice to meet you, cousin." Tonks nodded happily and their eyes locked in on something behind him. Their grin widened mischievously, "Hopefully we can catch up after the meeting but I have to claim some bet winnings. Oi, Charlie!"

Once they disappeared, eyes set on a redheaded man. Lennon immediately turned away from his direction when he turned towards the voice calling his name. Sirius turned his amused gaze onto the two women who still stood beside Remus and smiled kindly after assessing the fearful look he was getting from one and the suspicious look from the other, though they were there with a mix of uncertainty.

"Uh, Sirius, this is Lennon Winslow and her younger sister Prudence Bradbury." Remus introduced with a nod at each sister when he said their name, the younger one waving shyly as the older took a step forward and outstretched her hand to the man who grabbed it.

"Lennon and Prudence," Sirius repeated with a cocked eyebrow as they shook hands, and Prudence wandered away from the three towards where Tonks had moved to after exchanging an awkward pleasantry with him.

"Nice to meet you." Lennon responded with a kind but still slightly suspicious smile as she accidentally cut off his next few words, "Before you ask, the answer is yes. We are."

Sirius chuckled at her words, "Well, I can't say much as my parent's tradition was constellation names."

"So, this is the resistance, huh?" She asked after taking another glance around the room, doing a sweep of the twenty or so individuals around the room, "Kinda small."

Sirius sighed tiredly and disappointedly, "Yeah, we've still got a few people coming but even then, it's not very many people who can be trusted enough not to run to Fudge."

Lennon nodded in understanding as the older man gestured for her to take a seat and once he'd seated himself, she dropped into the chair across from him and surveyed the room. She found that most appeared to be a least a little familiar to her and she couldn't help but feel a coil of annoyance upon noticing Molly Weasley standing in the corner but she quashed it immediately because, and she was hopeful, but not counting on it, that the woman's attitude toward her had changed in the years they hadn't seen one another.

She looked away from the woman quickly as others began to sit around her, and continue their conversations while others remained on their feet. She glanced back to see Remus and Sirius conversing softly as though they'd know one another forever, and when Sirius noticed her gaze, he grinned widely at her.

"Are you and Prudence half-siblings?" He asked and her confused glance, he elaborated, "You don't share a surname."

"Oh." Lennon exclaimed, and shook her head quickly, "No, I'm married or rather separated from the bastard. We haven't gotten divorced, and I haven't changed it back."

Sirius made a noise of understanding but wasn't able to say much else as everyone still standing began to search for a seat, and Lennon looked over her shoulder in time to see Albus Dumbledore stop at the head of the table with a kind smile, his blue eyes twinkling merrily despite why they had all gathered at Grimmauld Place.

A noise caught the attention of everyone seated and when Lennon glanced back at the door with a large smile, she froze and her smile quickly faded at the sight of the man who had entered the dining room after the Hogwarts Headmaster.

Her lips parted in shock because while she had obviously seen his parents and one of his brothers in the room but last she had heard he was still in Egypt, and according to Percy when she had seen him two years ago, it was extraordinarily unlikely he'd move back to the United Kingdom anytime soon, if at all. But, the shock in her eyes mirrored the surprise in his when their eyes met and she quickly forced herself to look away from the man that she had not spoken to in six years, hadn't seen in four, and thought about quite often from time to time because Bill Weasley was the biggest 'what if?' in her life.

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sorry for the wait but i kept writing and rewriting this until i was happy with it and i hope you all enjoyed it.

thanks for reading!

~r