Song Of The Guardians

Revelation

The living room in Jenna and Samantha's apartment was unusually full. Snape had summoned McGonagall through the floo to join on this discussion. She had insisted that he go to Arcanus with the others, but declined to join them, which irritated the potions master to no end. Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione sat close to each other, just like they had while in school. The difference was, Draco now sat with them as well. Neville sat next to Jenna, listening to her talk about her most recent haircut with a slightly dazed expression on his face. Draco found it endlessly amusing.

Caroline and Samantha served refreshments to everyone and then sat down to wait for the meeting to begin. Taking their cue, Harry cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Alright everyone," he said seriously, "while at Arcanus, Neville gathered a bit of information for us. Fighting against vampires is new territory for The Order so, let's stay focused. Let's hear what you've got Neville."

"I was sitting at a table with Seamus and Dean," Neville explained. "There were two blokes at the next table talking. I overheard them discussing someone named Grant. It sounded like Grant is the leader. He's looking for something that they were calling a 'triad'." Neville frowned in thought. "The two men didn't seem to know who this triad is, and Grant is apparently refusing to tell his followers."

"Wait," Hermione interjected hastily. "You said 'who'... So it's a person and not a thing."

"Right," Neville agreed with a nod. "It's three people or maybe a group divided into three sub-groups. They didn't seem sure of that part."

"It doesn't sound as if they were sure of anything," Harry muttered irritably. This information was nearly nothing to go on. "How can his followers not know who they're looking for? Do they know why this guy Grant wants the triad?"

"I imagine that it would be very bad news for us if this man finds whoever he is after," Ginny observed with concern.

"Right," Harry said with a nod. He sighed. "So, we haven't really gotten far with this. We can't work against him if we don't know what he's after and why."

Draco frowned in thought. "Maybe we could..." He paused when his gaze fell on Caroline. "Caroline, are you all right?"

Every eye darted to Caroline's face. Her skin was deathly pale and she looked a bit nauseated. Sam and Jenna were at her side in a flash, helping her out of her seat. "I think Caroline has gotten a little too warm," Jenna said, waving her hand dismissively at all the looks of concern. "We'll get her some fresh air." The three sisters hurried from the room and out the front door.

Andy cleared his throat and rose from his chair. "I'll see if I can get anything for Caroline," he said, swiftly following the Freemans out the door.

"What the bloody hell was that?" Ron asked, bewildered. "Is she ill?"

"There are a lot of people in this room," Draco said uncertainly. "She's probably just a little claustrophobic." He didn't sound convincing, even to himself.

"Something is not right," Snape said pensively. His eyes were locked on the doorway. "She is terrified of something. Her hands were shaking violently."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "They know something," she said. She cast a glance at Harry and then Snape. "I'd never want to invade their privacy, but we have to know. There could be too much at stake."

The group sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, wondering how to handle such a delicate situation. They were startled when Sam stormed back into the living room, her expression grim. "We need to talk," she said firmly, her jaw tight in her determination.

"Sam," Andy said in a warning tone, rushing into the room. He looked furious and a little bit frightened. Jenna and Caroline came in behind him, their arms linked together for support. Caroline looked more steady, but still very pale. "Stop this now Sam," Andy commanded angrily.