Meeting of the Order (Invite Only)

Sirius had, along with the other key members of the Order, decided to call a meeting. Now that they knew for certain that Voldemort had gotten a very powerful magical force on his side, they needed to come up with some sort of strategy to allow them to have a similar edge to their attacks. Without something to tip the odds in their favour, using simple stunning curses wasn't quite going to cut it when Voldemort had these powerful entities on his side that could quite easily knock them all for six with a wave of their hands.

Demons.

They were something he hadn't even believed existed until he had heard from Severus that it was indeed true that Voldemort had garnered the support of one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful one available. In this meeting they would discuss and learn more information from Severus and what they could do to attempt to increase their chances when the battle finally came.

War, whatever the time always had the same feeling, the same signs, and this one would end in a tremendous battle that would cost lives on both sides.

So he sat at the head of the table in Grimauld Place, waiting for the rest of the order to assemble, and trying desperately to think of how they could even attempt to stand a chance, without negating what they all stood for, without having to stoop to using dark magic. Sighing softly he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. The only other thing he could think of would be a goddamn death with for sure, and he was certain the rest of the Order wouldn't back him on it.

They might not even have the finances, times being as they were.

Severus honestly didn't see the point in even turning up for these meetings any longer, despite his desire to continue repenting for his misdeeds against Lily, there was no hope for the Order any longer, at least not in his mind. He had been in the presence of Nyx for a few meetings of the Death Eaters now, and if there was anybody he would say could best both Tom Riddle and Albus Dumbledore in a fight this demon was the one.

Her power levels were immense and he was a little bit frightened of what she would do if she learnt that he was giving information about her to the other side as it were. Although, there wasn't much to tell, the woman was smart and kept the important things to herself while she still volunteered plenty of information, just all that information happened to be useless for his purposes of talking to her.

Entering the kitchen of Grimauld Place, Severus tried his best to ignore Sirius. As they were the only ones present as of yet it was a little bit awkward he would admit, but, it was better than saying something and it resulting in a fight. Which inevitably their conversations resulted in. Mocking Sirius in his head, Severus folded his hands upon the table, and waited for someone else to enter and break the horrible silence.

Harry had decided a long time ago that he was going to be part of the Order, he wanted to fight beside Sirius and the others and help to destroy the darkness that had dominated such a large part of his life. He wanted to fight Voldemort and make him pay for killing his parents, for on so many occasions killing those people he loved and for attempting to kill Harry himself so many times. The news that he had a new ally, more powerful than any of them could imagine, was not a welcome thing to hear to Harry.

Gritting his teeth at the very thought of it he stepped down into the kitchen of Grimauld Place, now that Voldemort had this new power, he had been under lock and key here when he wasn't at Hogwarts. At any possible time he could send this woman, this demon to kill him, and despite all his magical prowess he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could best a demon in a fight.

That was why he was here now. He wanted to listen to what Snape had to say so he could better protect himself, and so he could aid the Order in coming up with a solution to the new inequality in the power balance between the two sides. Harry knew some people he might be able to get on side and help them but, he knew they wouldn't do so without good reason, or without a good few galleons in their back pocket.

Smiling warmly at Sirius he took the chair on his left down the table, before nodding stiffly to Severus, however much he hated him he should at least still try and be polite. That might go out the window of course throughout the meeting.

Remus was not happy in the slightest. He had just finished going through his cycle and then he was struck down by this news, it was enough for any man to want to give up and stop fighting but he had to continue, he had to continue so that Harry and the rest of the younger wizarding generation wouldn't have to live in the shadow of darkness that would surely overtake their world if they allowed Voldemort to continue to grow in power.

For someone who lived in fear for most of his life, only fearing a different thing, Remus could attest to the fact that this was no manner in which to live. Closing his eyes, he massaged the bridge of his nose as he waited for Grimauld place to pop out of the row of houses as he stood outside. The thin wisp of the moon almost made him smile in triumph.

He had beaten it again. Just like they would beat Voldemort again. They just needed to have a little bit of a brainstorm first.

As the door to Grimauld Place opened for him Remus strode inside, making his way immediately towards the kitchen, upon seeing who was already there, he understood why there was palpable tension in the room. You could almost cut the air with a knife it was that thick. Taking up a seat he gave everyone a smile and a nod;

"Who else are we waiting on then?" he asked, deciding to strike up some conversation, and loathing being the first one to do so "Is it just Arthur?"

Arthur cursed a little to himself as he realised that he was going to be late for the meeting, there were only a few of them in attendance this time, and that suited him fine, the less people that knew about what the Order was up to the better. Molly was already worried sick about him leaving the house and as far as anyone knew this was just a meeting between friends.

After the first time that Voldemort was destroyed they disbanded, and had not as yet officially gotten back together.

Of course they had but nobody they didn't want to know about them getting back together knew about it, safe to say he was sure that Voldemort would catch wind of it pretty soon so they had to act while they were still able to have some element of surprise. Without that they might as well just give up the Ghost and allow him to take over.

The news of a more powerful magical force being on his side did nothing to settle his or Molly's nerves, and, in this meeting he hoped that he would be able to get some of the worries off his chest with what Severus was planning to reveal to them all from his meetings with this new person that Voldemort had on side. Arthur didn't know much about her, and as such, he was eager to find out if she was as bad as he had been imagining.

Approaching the meeting room he waved jauntily to everyone and took a seat in the middle of the table, to remain neutral in this war between Severus and Sirius.

"Well I suppose we are waiting on nobody now, sorry I'm late everyone." he said with a nod towards Sirius "So, I'm sort of removed from the loop on this whole issue, what do we know so far?"

Sirius, upon seeing that everyone was in attendance decided he had better begin the meeting because it looked damn sure that without prompting Severus wasn't going to volunteer any of the information he had come to garner from talking with the demoness himself. Standing up he placed his hands on either side of the broad worn wooden table, taking a moment to pause before speaking.

When Arthur asked him to fill him in on what had happened, Sirius nodded, he knew that Arthur had been working flat out in the ministry and as such had unavoidably had to miss a couple of meetings, including the one where this problem had been brought to their attention.

"Alright, all that we know so far is that Voldemort has been flicking through some of the restricted Ministry books, the ones on the occult and demonology. He managed to summon a demon, who has been able to 'reassemble' him into a whole soul once more."

Pausing he sat back down on the table and thumped it with his fist; "Now this would be a good thing, no more running after his horcruxes, but the other part of the deal is that he's going to be able to live forever, as long as he keeps feeding this demon souls of his enemies..."

The silence running around the room said it all, even though they all knew it was true, they had seen the change in Voldemort themselves through images Severus had shown them, it was hard to believe even now, after everything they'd seen.

"Now, Severus you told us that you had some more information to share?" he stated, waving his hand to get Severus his cue to start spilling the new information that he had heard. It would most likely be useless though, it was strange Severus actually had some useful news last time.

The meeting had progressed in the same vain that Severus had thought it would go right from the beginning.

He would tell them some of the abilities and powers he had observed the demons using and the other Order members present would present ways to combat said powers. And then Severus would expand on just how strong said powers were and the counter measures were almost always made instantly redundant within moments.

It had gone on like this for a long time before Black had suggested that they recruit some new members; powerful witches and wizards with unique skill sets of their own. Severus would have snapped at the man for reusing the same idea he'd put forward (and had shot down) months before back when it was just Voldemort and Death Eaters after them. But even so, it made sense. They needed more manpower and they certainly needed more power full stop.

Black and Lupin had sent out messenger spells to a select few individuals and they were currently waiting on their arrival and had been doing so for the past two hours. Severus was bored out of his mind but Voldemort was 'taking a break' with Bellatrix in his study so he wasn't about to go home any time soon. He didn't want to know why Bellatrix and Voldemort wanted to have sex in his personal study and he wished never to find out if he was honest.

He sighed a little bit and glanced over at Black with barely disguised disgust and mistrust,

"Are you sure that you and the werewolf cast the charms correctly?" he asked in a cold voice, "I would have thought that they'd have arrived by now."

Senium blinked when she saw a patronus charm filter in through the wall of her flat, she had just been trying to go to sleep again when she had seen it, it was pretty hard to miss with it's shining luminance. There was only one thing this meant, that she had a new job someone wanted her to do. Sighing softly she checked the time, it was only 10 she supposed, she could manage one job tonight she was sure.

Closing her eyes she dressed herself in tight black jeans, a tight black strap top and her grandfathers black military trench coat which dusted her knees. The sturdy army boots completed her assassin outfit and she sighed, rubbing her eyes, goddamn she was tired.

As she brushed herself down she touched the patronus charm and dissapparated, as she opened her eyes she saw that she was in the corridor of a strange building, the walls were old and faded, it smelt damp and musty. This however was not unpleasant to Senium, it was a rather sweet building if she had to say so herself, dark and dank was her new thing.

Slowly she walked through the corridor, seeing a room at the end with a light shining through it, that must be where the contractor was waiting for her. Taking out her knife she kept it ready in case it was a set up, but as soon as she reached the door, she pushed it open and blinked at what she saw.

The Order of the Phoenix? Seriously?

"You are the ones who sent me the patronus?" she asked, her expression was deadpan, but her heavily accented voice was surprised "You can't be serious I thought you were above hiring assassins."

Smiling lightly at Harry, she had gone to Hogwarts with him after all, Senium lingered near the door, before her eyes shifted to her former professors, her blush concealed well - she'd had crushes on both of them after all. Then there was Sirius Black, someone she had never met.

"That is why I am here right?"

Cobalt had been having another day. It was just another day to him at least.

As he pulled his hand out of the man's chest cavity, Cobalt whistled merrily to himself. With Voldemort's newly regain 'vitality' and the demons being content to just sit around, Cobalt had been able to start picking off Death Eaters whenever he pleased. Oh he was more than aware of the demonic presence within the Death Eater camp. He had tortured the information out of some of the grunts and they had all told him the same story.

Demons.

Massively powerful.

Order of the Phoenix doomed.

Blah blah blah.

All that Cobalt really heard out of that was that there were definitely demons helping the Death Eaters and, since killing them was something of a charity job he did, Cobalt thought it best to try and figure out how to kill demons too. Hence why he was currently raiding a Death Eater's manor for his family's heirlooms. Silver knives.

He glanced at the patronus and collected the last of the weapons, sealing them away into his leather jacket, before making his way over to it. Touching it lightly, he was twisted and warped to land in the corridor of a dark and depressing house. He shuddered a little bit,

"I hate homes like this..." he muttered to himself before becoming invisible and intangible. He had guessed the Order was summoning him but as he ghosted in the room, becoming visible in the centre, he noticed Senium Nex. He blinked a little bit, "The Order has started accepting assassins and wetboys? Where was my invite guys?"

Harry almost jumped as the door was flung open like that! Honestly did they really need to be so loud when they arrived nearly gave him a heart attack. Of course when he saw who it was his heart calmed down a little, but only a little, Senium had been in the year above him at Hogwarts and as such he had been one of those unattainable attractive females he and Ron had so often talked about.

Of course now she seemed even more hauntingly beautiful than before, it was like she was flawless, literally he couldn't see a single thing wrong with her, and she seemed to exude strength from where she stood.

"Senium." he smiled lightly at her, it had been his call to ask Sirius to invite Senium to come to the meeting, he had heard some good things about her skills, although she didn't exactly use them for the best of purposes "It's nice to see you again."

Then, when Cobalt Smith ghosted into the middle of the room and surprised him again Harry almost cursed, why did these guys like to do that?! Fiddling with the arm on his glasses he regained his composure, his inexperience showing a little bit there. Harry could see the look of distaste on Senium's face when Cobalt had suggested that she was part of the Order. It was odd, why would she be so adverse?

"We didn't ask you here to do your typical jobs." Harry stated quietly "We are trying to explore all possible avenue's without having to resort to killing people outright and not in a fair fight. But, Sirius will explain it more to you guys."

Oddly, Harry was feeling immensely nervous, both Senium and Cobalt could kill all five of them in an instant if they wanted...it would be best not to annoy them.

Sirius had been reluctant to invite people who were so open about killing people but the fact of the matter was that Cobalt and Senium were two people most likely to know how to kill demons. And they happened to be the two people best suited to taking them out. Senium was an up and coming assassin who was said to be immune to most spells and seemed to never be harmed, let alone injured. She would be a great asset to the Order in this fight,

"We are above hiring assassins to take out other people but... as you've no doubt heard, there are creature arrayed against us that are not people." he told her seriously, no pun intended, "You are the second best assassin in the entire wizard world Senium and we seriously need your talents to face an enemy that no one could have predicted would appear."

When Cobalt Smith appeared in the centre of the room, Sirius almost jumped in his seat, his heart going ten to the dozen. And it wasn't just because of the nature of the man's entrance. No, Sirius and James had been tasked with finding, and stopping, a murderer who targeted only Death Eaters during the first war. When they found it was Cobalt they confronted him... and Cobalt beat them both with one hand (literally) behind his back.

He was understandably nervous around someone like that,

"Cobalt Smith... so nice of you to join us. I didn't think you would actually accept the invitation to meet with us." he admitted a little bit sheepishly, grinning as he did so, "But with you two here I must say I'm feeling more confident already."

Remus had been sending out Patronus' with Sirius and he was doubtful that the people they had summoned would actually come out, especially given the time and the fact they might be on other jobs at the moment. He was worried fi their patronus' had interrupted something that they shouldn't have, and gotten the two in trouble, but that didn't seem to be the case as they both showed up and they didn't seem to want blood so...that was a good thing.

When Sirius and Harry started to explain why they were here, Remus took the opportunity to look over his former student Miss Nex, she had been very talented although she didn't have much aptitude for the spells in his subject, her theory knowledge was amazing and he had enjoyed teaching her. The girl back then seemed very different to the one in front of him now, and he wondered how she had gotten this way.

Of course, Remus had tried to persuade Sirius out of summoning Cobalt Smith, especially after what had happened between the two of them, but, he didn't seem to be holding a grudge and so perhaps he was wrong. Lord knows that had happened before.

"Pleased to meet you both, I do hope that you will be able to help us in our cause." he stated with a small bow of the head "I realise it isn't your usual job, to be contracted for such a long amount of time but, rest assured that we will find means and ways to compensate you for your aid to the Order, it is imperative that Voldemort is stopped, and these demons along with them."

Straightening his gaze up, Remus flicked his eyes from Cobalt back to Senium.

Severus Snape was a spy for both sides in this damned war so he had learnt to be very good at not only hiding and sneaky but detecting when someone was doing the same around him. It irritated him very much that Senium Nex, a former pupil who had NOT been abysmal at potions like all others in her class, was able to sneak towards the room without him noticing.

Of course if he was annoyed at being out-done by Senium, he was livid when Cobalt snuck right past all of them like it was nothing. To Cobalt it probably was nothing but to anyone who thought they could sneak it was a giant wake up call in the form of a slap to the face. Cobalt Smith was sneakier than anyone alive and it annoyed Severus rather too much for his liking. He decided to press on with the reasons why they should join,

"Indeed, Lupin is right. We shall pay you handsomely for your services and you will be compensated for time spent fighting for the Order." he declared with a small smirk, "In addition I think we would benefit a great deal from your... 'no holds barred' brand of duelling. Including putting your enemies to death. I believe you should continue that practice."

He held up a hand to forstall any complaints from the other Order members,

"Correct me if I am wrong but for you to focus on not killing people you would have to force yourself to hold back." he summarised with a small frown, "We cannot have you holding back when out opponents are so powerful."

Senium listened intently to what everyone had to say, it seemed like this contract was going to be a long one and she had to think about her own reputation, if she didn't take a lot of jobs people would think she was being weak, and if she was getting weak then it would lead to her being attacked by them so that they could take her place on the totem pole. Although, on the plus side she would be killing supernatural beings, powerful supernatural beings...

Surely this would put all her competitors at bay, if she could kill demons, then how easy would it be for her to kill other ordinary humans? That was what she was going to have to broadcast the underworld so that she was safe for a little while from worrying about her competition.

Staying silent, until Severus spoke, Senium turned her dark blue eyes to look into his own, he always spoke a great deal of sense and she had enjoyed him being her Professor, it seemed to be mutual, as she actually did excel at potions.

"My method of fighting does indeed involve a very direct style where death is intended, I can modify this style to incapacitate, but killing is much cleaner, you don't have to worry about them coming back and being a problem." Senium stated cooly, her eyes surveying over the other members of the Order "It makes sense to allow us to do what we do best, to hinder us would be unproductive."

Leaning against the wall just to the side of Snape, Senium shifted her gaze to Harry, staring at him with her unblinking glass eyes. She could tell that these people found it strange that she could change from the happy carefree girl to the one she was now, but, it wasn't that big of a leap if she was honest with herself, not if they knew the whole story.

Cobalt couldn't help but smirk when he noticed that Sirius Black was one of the men to summon him here. It was rather amusing to think that the arrogant man was having to come crawling to him on his hands and knees because he was facing an enemy clearly too strong for the Order. But he wasn't here to rub it in the man's face. He was here because he would get the chance to kill demons with some semi-competent people to use as distractions and meat-shields.

And that was why he was glad that the Weasley was there.

He hummed a little bit as he listened intently to everything that the Order was saying. In the end he just chuckled a little bit and looked around the room with a small smirk,

"So what's to stop me from leaving right now and going to the Death Eater hmmm?" he teased them with a wicked little grin, "Who out of you could stop me? Let's be honest, Senium is the closest to being able to do that and she's not on board with you Dumbledore-lovers yet either. So how can you sweeten this deal? Because right now you're offering to 'order' me to do what I've been doing for training recently anyway."

He hummed a little bit at the words of one Severus Snape. He honestly didn't like the man. Snape had literally no honour in his entire body. It made him a good spy, don't get him wrong. Just also made him a sickening excuse for a human being,

"Again I would ask how would you have stopped me if I had disagreed?" he asked with a chuckle before nodding, "I can accept this though... as long as the pay is good."

Raven giggled as she tugged and pulled on some of the brain fibres in the mans head she had just sawed open, it was rather fun she had to say to watch the way that he reacted. If she pulled on the left side he wiggled and jerks around, but if she pulled on the right side then he started screaming and doing the strangest of things. It was quite funny, and of course, the added blood and gore made it all the more exciting for her.

When she saw the patronus floating towards her Raven sighed softly and tapped the man's head so that the skull fused back to the part she had cut it off from, and, she wondered who could be trying to summon her at this time of night. It couldn't be Briony, because Briony still didn't really want to speak to her after their fight, and she didn't take contracts like her other friends.

Deciding she would find out who it was, Raven shrugged her shoulders and touched the patronus, she was immediately transported to a rather dark dingy place and she smirked softly. Raven had an idea where she was. It was one of the places she least expected to be given her background but, she was glad to get the chance to tease and taunt these people.

The Order of the Phoenix. Calling on her? They must be desperate.

Slinking through the door, only just realising she still had blood on her hands from her experiment, Raven smirked and looked at each man, her eyes were deep coal black, unnerving as she stared at each for a few seconds.

"Well if this isn't a strange occasion I don't know what is." she chuckled darkly "Goody two shoes Black calling on little old me." Raven giggled "I shall mark this day on my diary."

Turning and seeing Senium and Cobalt, Raven's eyes widened a little bit more; "Oooooh being very naughty now are we Mr. Potter?" she asked, sending him a cheeky wink as she settled into a chair.

Richard Romain was an active alchemist.

To many that meant nothing and to be honest, Richard liked it far better that way. Better that no one was sure what he could actually do. That way no one would try to copy his skills and either succeed or blow themselves up. Both were bad options to be far because even in success there was a chance that the fools would begin to unravel everything around them because they were able to... it was addictive and Richard was the only active alchemist in two hundred years to have resisted the addiction enough to continue to function as a regular wizard.

When the patronus arrived he sighed a little bit and glanced at it. To be honest he had half been expecting this damned message. Sighing a little bit, he touched the messenger spell and arrived in the home. He glanced around before following the noise of conversation to find a group of people he definitely hadn't expected to see and a group he had expected to see. The Order of the Pheonix he had expected to be perfectly honest.

But Cobalt Smith, Raven Drake and Senium Nex? Well he hadn't seen that coming at all. Entering the room, he grinned a little bit as he glanced around,

"So... who died? Only two of you look like you're having any fun and I know Cobalt's just taking the piss out of you guys." he said to the Order before bowing to Raven with a small smirk, "Miss Drake... your work in human reactions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of your straight razors, stylish yet practical."

He turned to Senium before giving the wooden girl a quick hug, ignoring the rather tense atmosphere in the room as he did so,

"Hey sweetheart!" he kissed her on the forehead with a grin, "You been behaving yourself while I've been away?"

Harry had been a little bit upset that they were going to be endorsing people killing others, however, he knew he had to wake up and realise that in a state of war things like that happened, and although it was something that shouldn't be done lightly, they didn't really have much of an option. It would have to be done this way in order to stop all those deaths in the future.

As Senium looked at him Harry felt his cheeks heat a little, her gaze was so keen and penetrating that he couldn't believe that she hadn't blinked yet, it was a little but unnerving when he thought about it. Were those rumours true? Was Senium...really not human any more?

His thoughts were interrupted when another woman, Miss Drake entered the room, the blood on her hands made his throat dry up immediately. What the hell had she been doing before she had come here? Didn't she have time to wash her hands or something?! Taking a deep breath he tried to calm down a little bit, he could see why Sirius and Arthur hadn't wanted him here now.

"I guess I just had a little bit of growing up to do...killing in war is inevitable I suppose." he stated, staring at the wooden table top to avoid her gaze.

Harry's eyes widened a little when the man entered, but he relaxed, he didn't seem like he was going to kill him if he so much as breathed in the wrong way like the other woman.

"I think everyone's just a little bit on edge about what everybody is going to decide, we all really do want you to help us defeat Voldemort, we would secure your help with whatever means necessary I am sure." Harry continued, hoping his nerves weren't getting the best of him.

Sirius had to admit that this was all getting rather out of hand. First Cobalt Smith and Senium Nex actually turned up and now Raven Drake and Richard Romain too. He honestly hadn't thought that even half of them would turn up and yet here they all were. Honestly, if these people all joined the Order then he was damned sure that they would be able to put up a damned good fight against the Death Eaters and their demonic allies.

Minus the demons this version of the Order would steam roll right over the Death Eaters.

Raven put him on edge even more than Cobalt had done. He had only heard the rumours about what she did to people and they were not pretty rumours at all. He had actually been physically sick after seeing one of her crime scenes. But if they could use that against the enemy then he was actually all for it.

Richard Romain would be a great addition due to his unique abilities that was for sure but... did he just call Senium Nex Sweetheart?! And give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead? He was damned sure they weren't dating so that suggested that they were related and that was just as impossible wasn't it? Come on.... they couldn't be related!

But it would make controlling Senium easier if Richard decided to join up,

"I'm glad that you all could make it." he told them honestly, still more than a little bit intimidated, "We have offers for each of your as individuals so just step into a separate room with a member of the Order. Choose any member you like."