Poison Ivy | T. Riddle ✔

[62] Sacrifice

With the war reaching its peak, the Order of the Phoenix was the only hope for the wizarding community. By every passing day, witches and wizards joined the Order standing up against Voldemort while those who did not do so, lived in fear of the Dark Lord.

Eridanus Whitburg had become a rather known figure among the Order, leading the most difficult missions and doing all in his power to eradicate the darkness that gripped them all. He had completed his Auror training along with Emmeline Vance, Gideon and Fabian Prewett but they had not officially joined the Ministry since there was enough evidence to prove that the British Ministry had been completely infiltrated by Voldemort and his allies.

Even known Aurors from the Ministry such as Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Alice and Frank Longbottom had realized the stakes and decided to slowly but eventually resign from their jobs so as not to raise much attention but also get away from the Voldemort controlled Ministry.

The Minister, Harold Minchum, could do nothing against the opposition he faced and many believed that he had been put under an Imperius curse, making him a puppet to the Dark Lord. The Ministry itself had branched out into two categories; those who were courageous enough to stand up against Voldemort and those who had surrendered.

By the end of the 1978 term at Hogwarts, there had been notable recruits in the Order including the infamous Marauders, Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Benjy Fenwick and many others.

Eridanus and Emmeline Vance had been tasked to train the new recruits and prepare them for the Order missions after which they were all divided into teams and dispatched. So far the Order had been facing quite difficult times. The abduction rate of the Order members had increased and the Death Eaters they fought against had somehow gotten even more powerful, wiping out huge numbers of wizards in a single attack.

Their recent casualties included Gideon and Fabian Prewett who had been attacked by five Death Eaters while they were on a mission. The two had been Eridanus's batch mates and it hadn't been long enough for the Order to recover from that blow when another member, Caradoc Dearborn, disappeared as well leaving no trace behind.

The members had to be on strict guard as all of them were being targeted at any given opportunity by the Death Eaters. 

Eridanus had just returned from a mission and was rather exhausted as he had nearly been taken hostage but eluded capture by the help of his partner Emmeline. The two had become the most active of Order members and were always sent on missions together. They had been in the same year at Hogwarts as well with Emmeline sorted into Ravenclaw but had been on friendly terms back then even.

Now that they were soldiers in arms, their bond had strengthened as the two had become much like each other's support system. Aside from Demelza, Perce and Nathan, Emmeline was the only Order member who knew about Danny's sinister capabilities and even helped him through it whenever he needed.

"Danny, you need to get this stitched up," Emmeline remarked as she sat down beside him on the stairs, taking his wounded arm as she started to work on the stitches when he didn't contradict her.

As the needle punctured the skin slightly he looked up alarmed as if he had just noticed what was going on, "what are you doing, Em?"

"You'll get an infection if I don't stitch it up," she replied, not looking up from the open wound that she cleansed, "seems like you were busy thinking so much that you didn't notice me asking earlier."

He nodded, "yes, I have been thinking."

She hummed in response letting him know that she was listening though her concentration did not waver from her current task.