Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow

The full moon was still a week away but already Remus found himself getting irritable.

Maybe it had nothing to do with the moon: maybe it had everything to do with the broadcast at the vigil, and the way everyone suddenly seemed ready to abandon ship and run out to Merlin knew where on the off chance that what they’d all heard Glenda say had been true, that there was a second safe place where all their lost loved ones were just waiting for them. How anyone could believe it was… well, not beyond comprehension, honestly. Hope was a hell of a drug, one that had kept him sedated more than he liked to believe. But it was one he’d run dry on, and this hadn’t changed that. 

He hadn’t really spoken to Greta yet, more than in passing, since they’d shown up in Godric’s Hollow. But their presence there had unsettled him from the beginning. Nothing personal. It was just, as Secret Keeper, he didn’t like the idea that anyone he didn’t know had gotten so close to finding the place.

Still, when they called out, he came over, wondering what they wanted him to look it– and as he did and they continued the question, he instantly regretted it. 

      ‘I’m probably the wrong person to ask,’ he said, as he drew near, holding his hands up in defeat. ‘I’m the one person here who doesn’t thing there is a second headquarters. You’d be better off asking–’ Sirius, he almost said, but the idea of a stranger leading Sirius off on some wild goose chase to get killed by Death Eaters made his hackles rise. ‘Alastor, or Frank, or… anyone else.’

“You don’t?” Greta asked with a small frown. They could understand having some doubts but not giving the idea of another hiding place at the very least a chance seemed a little ridiculous. At least for them. But perhaps it was because they had had faith in Glenda’s words in the past and it had lead them here, to Godric’s Hallow and the mysterious Order of the Phoenix. They couldn’t ask people who were already aware of the mystery to have faith in possibility. After all, how could they know how much the Order existing meant for those a drift? 

“Well....” Greta continued, their frown disappearing, a soft smile taking it’s place. “A lot of people out there didn’t believe the Order existed at all. We are all doomed, they told me.” Greta leaned closer to the map, making a new scribble with a flicker of their wand. “Most people thought I was crazy for researching, trying to find a saviour that wasn’t there at all.” They turned to look at Remus, a sad look in their eyes. “I was close to believing it, you know? That I was chasing ghosts and that there was no escaping all the pain I had seen, there was no one left trying to do what was right, what was just.....” They sighed, looking away for a moment, remembering all their research, all the pain and death, all the victims of this cruel war. 

Greta had come very close to giving up. They thought, for a moment, that Glenda had lied about the Order, that there was no revolution in the works, they the world had given up and that Voldemort would win because there was no one to oppose him, there was no one to save anyone. All you could do was run, run as fast as you could and hope for the best but then.....Then they decided to come to Godric’s Hollow, for every time they got some real information about the Order was where tragedy struck with more force.

More and more, Xenophilius was beginning to feel at a loss. In the past week, they had managed some semblance of an essay for one of the publications they often submitted to, but they were fairly certain that it would not make it to press. Every time they sat down to work, ideas felt jumbled in their mind, the echoes too loud and too confusing for anything revolutionary or even coherent to come out. 

They tried, though, what they felt was a valiant and determined effort to not only continue on as normally as they could, but to keep up their research into the little creatures who had helped bring about the broadcast, as well as the experimental solutions they had shown to Remus for various members of their little community. A stroll through the brisk winter air felt appropriate for clearing their thoughts, as well as searching for inspiration. The town square seemed to call their name. Or rather, the words were whispered in their ears, guiding their feet in search of what waited there.

Sure enough, barely even entering the square, a sudden shout took them out of their thoughts, the whispers quieting slightly in favor of what they had been drawn here for. A delightful surprise indeed, to find Greta sitting there, clearly hard at work on a problem, and perhaps at a loss. They perked up as they approached them, holding their arms out as they did so, worn coat falling open to reveal the altogether inappropriate floor length dress robes in a deep blood red they had chosen for today.

“I assure you, dear Greta, that nothing you could show me will appear ‘crazier’ than anything else I’ve been occupied with this morning. I’m grateful for the chance to help!” Xenophilius said, stopping next to them, leaning close to look at the map. “Ah, a mystery indeed! And such a logical one, at that. Your thoughts seem clouded, though, have you felt any Wrackspurts nearby?”

Greta smiled as they saw Xeno approaching. If anyone could give them a new perspective, it was surely them. Xenophilius was not like most people and for that, Greta admired them. They were different and while most people found them, perhaps, a little odd but not Greta. Instead, they found in the other a kindred spirit, someone capable of seeing the world as more than what it was; one of those rare individuals that did not fit in any sort of box. 

“I wonder what crazy things are going in that mind of yours, dear Xenophilius” They said with a smile, watching as the other approached the map. Perhaps they would be able to see something Greta was missing or perhaps, given that Xenophilius had been with the Order that Greta had, they would be able to give them some insight of how the Order worked before ending up in Godric’s Hollow.”

“Wrackspurts?” Greta frowned, looking around. “I don’t think I have but I’ve been so focused on trying to make sense of this that they might’ve gone unnoticed.” They pointed out with a soft sigh. “Which would be quite annoying, you know? So much time wasted all confused.” They scrunched up their nose huffing softly. “You heard what Glenda said, there is no time to waste, we need to find more allies.”

They had a little map floating in front of them, marked all over with different colours. Some places circled, others crossed out, a few question marks here and there.

“More than one headquarters....” Greta mumbled to themselves, tilting their head to the side, trying to find a new perspective, hoping that maybe they had missed something before, that a brilliant idea would pop into their head and they would solve the mystery. They had done it once before, they had found a part of the Order, they could do it again. Cause that had to be what Glenda meant, there were more members out there, still alive and still save and if Greta could just figure it all out, fighting back would be a more reasonable thing to do. Strength in numbers, Glenda had said and Greta believed it. Now they didn’t have enough people to make a move.

But Greta had spent days trying to find something just to come up empty handed. If only they could get their hands on a list of Order members, maybe of important locations but they were still fresh meat, still not on that level of trust with anyone. 

“This is frustrating.” They sighed, taking out their wand to apparate a cup of hot chocolate and a chair, sitting down as they frowned.