Being a Greengrass after all should sound pretty serene.
But being a part of "the Emeralds" should not, especially when hearts become entangled with the infamous Regulus Black.
Goodness, lawfulness, or evilness. Which path will they tread in the ti...
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February 22nd, 1981
The air twisted, and Avery hit the ground with the soft, practiced thud of someone who had fallen more times than she cared to count and always landed where she meant to. Cold grass brushed her boots. Moonlight pooled across a low field hemmed in by fir and beech; beyond the trees the world was a shadowed, patient thing.
One by one, the others appeared beside her: Alastor Moody first, his magical eye whirring like a clockwork compass; Marlene McKinnon with her jaw set and wand drawn, all nerves and defiance; Remus Lupin, pale under the moon; and Gideon Prewett, broad and quiet, his presence a small mercy in a world that no longer promised many.
They had been sent here by the Order with a single piece of grim intelligence:
Rumor had it the death eaters were meeting giants somewhere in these woods, trying to bring them to Voldemort's side.
Moody's magical eye turned toward the treeline, scanning. "Tracks," he muttered. "Heavy ones. Could be them."
Marlene adjusted her cloak. "Giants and Death Eaters in one place. Sounds lovely."
Remus gave a tired smile. "Let's hope they don't get along."
Moody signaled with one hand. "Split. Three teams. Gideon, you take the ridge north. Avery and I will circle west. Lupin, you and Marlene shadow the line. No flashy toys unless you mean to draw the beasts. "
Avery nodded and followed Moody without a word. The grass whispered under their boots as they moved west, keeping low to the ground. The forest thickened quickly, branches knitting overhead and cutting out most of the moonlight. Every sound seemed too loud, even the snap of a twig and the distant rustles that could have been anything.
Moody walked ahead, all focus and habit; he'd done this a hundred times. Avery hadn't. The mission had been rushed. No details beyond what little the Order knew. Giants and Death Eaters. Somewhere here, tonight. But who they were meeting, what exactly they planned—no one had said, and this unnerving feeling sat heavy in her stomach.
Moody suddenly stopped and raised a hand. Avery froze beside him.
He crouched, brushing his gloved fingers across the ground. "More prints," he murmured. "Big ones."
Her eyes followed where he pointed—wide depressions in the earth, as if someone had pressed enormous stones into the mud. "So they're real," she said quietly, swallowing hard.
"Real enough to crush you if you make noise," Moody said, not unkindly. "Keep your wand ready, but don't use it unless you have to."
They moved forward again, the forest closing around them like a living wall. After what seemed like an never-ending fruitless journey of wandering in an unknown place, a shadow broke through the underbrush ahead. A man, thin and quick, moving as though he didn't expect to be seen. His robes were dark and his wand was held loosely at his side.
