WHO: Jeremy, Owen, Remus, and Tonks (JORT!!!!!) WHAT: Discussions about secret vigilante groups nbd WHEN: Nowish WHERE: The Spotted Cat in Edinburgh, Scotland
Not only was the Spotted Cat a quiet venue, but it was one that was notoriously a good meeting point when you were looking to be anonymous. No one really looked at one another or made small talk. Remus had found a table in which he, with his back to a wall, could watch the pub and see through the window onto the street as well. He felt safe enough without the risk of Death Eater notice to play out this idea that had been sitting heavy on his mind.
He took a sip of his tea and looked up.
“We should really come to Edinburgh more often.”
It wasn’t Tonks’ first time in that impressive Scottish city, but she had to scramble to remember the last time she’d been here, as busy as she’d been for the past three years now. She sat beside Remus rather than across, not only to keep an eye out for Jeremy and Owen, but because she enjoyed watching the people go by on the winding, cobblestone street.
She leaned into him, a smile tugging at her lips, “Yeah, I really like it here. It feels so...apart from everything, even knowing I guess it’s really not.”
Tonks and Remus didn't have to wait long for the Dearborns to arrive. Ever since Jeremy had mentioned to Owen that Lupin had requested a meeting with the two of them, Owen had felt like an impatient little kid waiting for the time to arrive. His mind was running a mile a minute with theories and questions, that old Ravenclaw curiosity leaving him bouncing off the walls.
He did hesitate, if only for the briefest moments, when they walked into the cafe, when he saw how snuggly his former coworker and the man he remembered mostly from childhood were, but the weirdness of the moment passed when genuine relief over seeing them both took over. "Hey you two," he greeted them, automatically reaching out to shake Remus's hand. "Thanks for setting this up. I had no idea this place was here."
“Neither did I,” Jeremy chimed in, following behind Owen and nodding in greeting. He’d spent his own time trying to figure out what this was about (he had so many questions), but in the end he was glad for it to just be time and to find out for sure, outside of whatever his mind could come up with. He took a seat and waited for Owen to do the same before offering a smile — albeit a slightly reserved one. “How are you both?”
Remus’ arm curled around his wife’s shoulders and he nodded, gesturing with his gaze to point out the arrival of the Dearborn brothers. Remus caught Owen’s hand and gave it a firm shake, smiling. “I’m glad you both came by. Have a seat. First round’s on us.”
He paused, settling back against his seat. “We’re dealing as well as we can under the circumstances. It’s a bit like the pit and the pendulum, isn’t it? How are you?”
Tonks snorted at the analogy, “That really just about sums it up,” she agreed, then looked between Owen and Jeremy. She could surmise enough to know none of this had been easy for either of them, but it was rare to have an opportunity to vent and talk more freely without the thought that Umbridge or several Death Eaters might be reading along at the back of your mind.
"Honestly you guys got it in one," Owen said, settling down in his seat and glancing over at Jeremy to confirm that he was in the same boat. "All the cats in Hogsmeade are safer than ever, but that's been about it for me jobwise. And I'm thinking about making it so all my owls have to be delivered to me at work." Which was the less-extreme version of Owen's explanation of Death Eaters keep sending me shit, I work for a Death Eater, and I have no idea if my wife is still alive, but that seemed like it'd be a rough place for them to get started.
“I think you should.” Jeremy was starting to wonder if he should do the same thing, and he glanced back over at Owen before directing his attention to the two across the table. “But yeah, basically. The hospital’s been a lot busier for not great reasons and the general state of things is terrible. I guess we all agree on that though.”
“Keeping your address out of general exposure is good unless you're warded up,” Remus said quietly. He was proud that he and Tonks managed to be Unplottable, thanks to Orion Black. A smile. “You're keeping your head up and keeping to your principles. Your father would be proud.”
He turned to Tonks. “It's hard, isn't it? Figuring out what you can do to make a difference and keep yourself and yours safe.”
Tonks met Remus’ look, nodding both in agreement, and because she interpreted that as a lead.
Looking back over at Owen and Jeremy, she took a breath, “We’d never pretend to have the answers to that, and it’s very possible--if not likely--that we’re going about it in entirely the wrong way ourselves,” she admitted. “But that’s sort of why we wanted to meet...to talk about options on how to help and how to do it--er--safely, in so far as strength in numbers and purpose can be considered maybe a modicum safer than the alternative of going it alone,” she said, lowering her voice and leaning in with each word.
“I...can imagine that with the disbanding of the Aurors and the restriction of Mungo’s care to certain groups, it’s got to be difficult to find direction and resources and community,” Tonks rambled a bit more, as she was approaching the key detail here, and this was the part that made her nervous. This was a duty previously left to individuals more experienced than she, people who were now dead...and she was seriously asking these guys to join up in spite of that reality.
“We’d like to talk to you about the Order of the Phoenix,” she said, feeling strangely like an evangelist.
Owen would've been lying to himself if he would've said that he hadn't suspected this had something to do with the Order, but it didn't make him any more prepared for the actual name of the group to come up. His stomach dropped a bit -- from excitement, from curiosity, from conflicted feelings he'd had about his father's involvement -- but he nodded anyway, leaning forward on his elbows over the table to listen. "I see why you wanted to meet in person."
So did Jeremy, who had also had an inkling about what this could be about but hadn’t known how he’d really feel if it came down to it. The name felt weighty, wrapped in layers of conflicted feelings that had almost twenty years to grow. He still wasn’t sure which emotion had come out on top.
He glanced at Owen, before running a hand through his hair. “We’re listening.”
Remus cleared his throat. “I knew your father from the First War - a good man, one of the best. And it wasn’t lightly that we thought to reach out to you. But I know that he instilled in you good values and your positions, as well as your skills, are desperately useful to us.” Sitting forward, Remus unfurled his hands on top of the scarred tabletop.
“We’re trying to get the Wandless out of Diagon and a patrol timetable would be very helpful to all involved. We’re attempting to anticipate the Death Eaters’ next skirmish and someone with medical training is always welcome.” Unfortunately, things happen. He stopped himself short, though. Caradoc’s sons knew this all too well. With a deep breath -- “Two good wands from men who stand up for England and stand up to tyranny. It seems an obvious equation.”
Tonks nodded along in whole-hearted agreement; the Dearborns had the passion and the expertise.
“They’re making it impossible to really fight the Death Eaters or seek justice through legal avenues, it leaves...extra-legal methods as the only real alternative now,” she said. “And we’ll do everything we can to help you, always--wards, disguises, anything you need.”
Owen and Jeremy definitely both knew that things unfortunately could happen that you couldn't plan for, but as someone who always tried to live by a plan and multiple backup plans, Owen definitely understood why the Order would benefit from having the patrol schedule. "It tends to change based on whatever Yaxley's whims are, but I can for sure get you all what we have. Or let you know when we suddenly get sent somewhere with a bunch of cats, since that usually means something else is going down and he wants us distracted."
“And obviously I’d be willing to heal anyone who needed it,” Jeremy started, “but—” He cut himself off, trying to take a moment to compose his thoughts and feeling slightly self-conscious in front of the representatives of a group he’d both greatly admired and petulantly hated. But hadn’t this been exactly the sort of thing he’d been complaining about? About wanting to do more and not knowing how? About wanting to feel less useless?
He wondered a little whether or not his dad would really approve.
“Of course I want to help,” he repeated, “but are you asking us just to help or are you asking us to join?”
Remus paused for a moment, considering again the wealth of resources and talent they could both bring to bear for the Order. But in joining - Godric, even in helping - he and Tonks asked them to not only put their lives on the line, but to actively confront their father’s disappearance.
“Honestly,” he said. “I think that depends on you and what you want for yourselves. It’s a risk, but I know you’re a personal favourite of Death Eaters, so you’re in considerable danger already. We would never ask you to do more than you want, though.”
Tonks nodded in agreement; there were about a hundred good reasons to not want to join, and putting pressure on them would be helpful to no one. “If you want to join, though, then the next step would be for us to bring it to a vote to the whole group,” she said. “I can’t imagine there would be much dissent, though, so you should give it some thought first.”
Owen had imagined this moment happening for nearly his entire life. Usually he felt more like he was betraying the DMLE by wanting to follow in his father's vigilante footsteps. Usually in his daydreams of this moment, he was being recruited by Samuel L Jackson in an eyepatch. Usually he would tell the person asking him to join the Order of the Phoenix that he needed to talk about it with his wife first.
Not this time. The only other person he wanted by his side when signing up for this was here. He glanced over to Jeremy, trying to read his brother's expression while he knew that his adrenaline was potentially clouding his own judgment. Right now, this is where he wanted to be. This is what he needed to do. "I mean, right now I kind of just want to ask 'where do I sign?'"
That was enough of an answer for Jeremy. When it came down to it, he knew two things wholeheartedly: he wasn’t going to do this without Owen, and he wasn’t going to let Owen do it without him. His own apprehensions didn’t change the fact that he wanted to help and he wanted to do more. His answer might not have been quite as obvious, but there wasn’t really a question it was his answer all the same.