Order of the Phoenix

[Thomas]

Her heart flipped over as she saw the body pass the melting keyhole, he paused and turned towards the door. She quickly stepped an arms length back from the door, crouched so she could see through the keyhole better and rested her finger tips back on the door ready for the first wave of attacks. He grabbed the handle and had started to turn, then leapt back swearing profusely as his fingers stuck to the burning hot metal. A grim smile flickered across her face; that would keep him occupied for another moment.

She could hear him rummage in his pocket and then mutter a healing spell. She saw a flicker of light - he had his wand. He bent down and examined the lock, then whistled in surprise. She grit her teeth, now he knew she was in there. One of the others called up the stairs but was quickly put in his place. They weren't here for 'the girl' apparently. He walked off. Nell frowned, then what or who were they here for then? They didn't have anything rare or precious that they could want, so why was he not blasting the door to pieces right now? Something wasn't right.

[Nicci]

Gritting his teeth, his heart was now pumping with adrenaline as he pushed away any fear or doubt in his newly formulated plan of action. His inner over protective will was far too strong to turn away regardless if Nell was inside or not. The underlying fact he cared about the woman who lived in the apartment more then Damien would likely rule tolerable barely touched the root of his determined motives, she was a member of his side of the Order and that should have gave have her full magical immunity….except… damn Sporus.

Flying like a ghostly shadow over the short distance with his wand tucked close up his overhanging sleeve, Heath sprinted up the short few concrete steps and lingered silently in the unlit porch. He dared not use Lumos until he needed to, muggles had a terrible habit for sprouting gossip and one whisper of a stranger approaching an unlit neighbours house would warrant a worthy call to the Metropolitan police. He certainly didn’t need them on his case.

Reaching out with a careful hand Heath inched his body closer to touch the seemingly closed door. If it was bolted it was fair game to normally ring the door bell, if it wasn’t… he paused instantly as a second dousing of chill sent his senses back on high alert as the usual bright, red gloss wooden door eased its way open almost without any effort. Now definitely wasn’t the time to ring the doorbell.

Having scooted inside the property and closing the door tightly shut behind him, Heath found no luck with flipping the light switch and resulted to illuminate the end of his wand with a simple easy cast. What stared back at him through the dimness was alarming; Nell’s perfect simply organised hallway was.. well very unorganised to put it nicely. Vases smashed, mirrors broken, every framed photograph knocked out of pristine alignment. This wasn’t Nell’s doing, not by a long shot.
Every overturned room he passed on the ground floor and established its emptiness by shutting the door only strengthened his accusations towards a potential culprit.

Reaching the foot of the spiral staircase, he placed a solid foot on the bottom step and peered up to the hole in the ceiling. If the intruder were still in the building they’d have to pass him to exit if they didn’t apparate so Heath knew he was in a strong position to call out with his wand at the ready.

“NELL” he yelled, his voice strong but filled with undertones of worry “NELL ARE YOU IN HERE?”

Patiently waiting for what felt like an eternity passing with every second, his stomach churned with desperate mixed feelings. Hearing her sweet voice call out back to him would bring a warmth of much needed reassurance but the flood of crashing doubt plagued any positivity he tried to find like flies on a fresh corpse. If he only got silence in reply then he’d have to pray that he’d find the rest of the house as barren as the current rooms he had been through. Nell had to be all right; she just had to be. Goodness knows what he’d do without her.

“NELL!!”

(I changed a bit at the end and took out the need for small details. I think this is quite a rare vulnerable side of Heath that depending on the current situation may get to mirror some nice info flashbacks. But this is for you Tommy for still sticking with it, I hope it helps bring Nell to the present)

[Thomas]

"Quiet" Stella glared at her accomplice "She's not deaf idiot"
Peter glared back "What's it matter anyway... as I said we're not here for the girl"
"We're here to send a message you pillock" Stella sighed then started again "Look how are we supposed to shake her up if she knows that is what we are here for. She's an auror Peter, not some preteen girl"

[Thomas]

Stella opened the fridge door. You could tell a lot about someone from the contents of their fridge. Peppers, aubergine, cucumbers, broccoli, iceberg lettuce and mushrooms filled the vegetable crisper, and on the shelf above there was the casserole of chilli con carne, fresh pasta, mozzarella, and jars of salsa. The door of the fridge was packed with semi-skimmed milk and fruit juices. Just like my fridge Stella smiled to herself as she let the door swing closed.
She turned and glared as she heard Peter bite into an apple. "You're unbelievable".
He grinned in amusement and noisily answered "Sure she knows we're here now anyway" 

[Thomas]

She rolled her eyes and concentrated on the task in hand. Where would she have hid it? It has to be here somewhere.
"Guys?" Michael called down "Guys, look what I found" Stella looked pointedly at Peter and nodded towards the stairs. He quickly obliged and sped up the stairs.
They were both out of the way, now she could leave her  note without interference.
Stella pulled the envelope from her jacket pocket, now where should she leave it? She glanced around the kitchen, and her eyes fell on a pinboard covered in polaroids, postcards, shopping lists and memos. Perfect. 
"Stella! Get up here" There was a hint of urgency in Peter's voice. Carefully tucking in into the midst so it would only be obvious to those familiar with the board she turned and headed for the stairs, gripping her wand tightly in her hand.

[Thomas]

Michael's lips spread into a grin. Nell's wand... this was better than he had ever expected. They were only supposed to be giving her a scare, to send a message, but Nell was wandless and they'd never get a chance like this again. He picked it up and looked at it up close, then called to the others.

"Guys? Guys, look what I found".

Peter sauntered in "What?", then as his eyes locked on the wand his chin dropped "Holy Shit! Michael were did you get that?" He held his hand out and took the wand, feeling the grip in his hand. Things just got serious.

"Stella! Get up here" 

[Admin]

Nell was crammed up against the door. What the hell was going on out there? What could this Michael guy have found in her room that was so important? Then the penny dropped - he has my wand! She threw herself against the far side of the room and pulled her full concentration inwards as she began layering complex shield charms and counter spells around herself. Apparating carried too much risk of severe splinching without a wand, and it had never been her area of expertise. It was only a matter of time until the door would be breached, and it required every ounce of her strength to create barriers that could let nothing past - matter, sound, or air and would repel even her own wand. She had to disappear. She only hoped that she could hold out long enough until help came and found her.

As soon as Stella reached the door she knew something was up. The two of them were both intently focused on something in Peter's hand. Her heart dropped, it was her wand. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen. She could feel the panic rising now as things started to slip away. She'd have to act fast, before either got any funny ideas. It wasn't too late yet.
"Let me see it" She said firmly, Peter relinquished the wand eagerly and both of them gathered around as she studied it in mock interest while she gathered her wits.

[Nicci]

Reaching the top of the spiral staircase with his hand clasped firmly around the banister, Heath squinted through the darkness, his eyes drawn to the soft illuminating glow spilling out from the partially open refrigerator door. The unexpected explosion of crushed cereal flakes on the hard tiles underfoot caused him to flinch and unnecessarily exert too much force on the door sending a cascade of loosely attached photos and magnets downwards to join the contents of the cereal box. There was no time to pick them all up but he ensured that he stepped far enough over them as to not damage the images.

Adjoining the kitchen, the main living room of the apartment that stretched the entire width of the tall terraced building, rested peacefully in the warm comforting bask from the street light just outside the unclosed pale drapes. The three large sash windows welcomed him into the white Parisian styled living space whilst the untouched crystal chandelier hung regally above the glass coffee table. Compared to the smaller rooms downstairs this one was the least disturbed, mainly due to its vast openness or the lack of potential hiding places and only the dining table bore the brunt of the upturned disturbance clutter. Snaking his way carefully around the plush three seat cream settee, Heath scooped low to pick up a cushion and held it to his chest.

As his paled fingers clenched into the patterned cotton cover, his tension melted into another reminder of grief as a waft of summer flower filled his nostrils. The unnecessary violation and upheaval of Nell’s home was just sickening and terribly undeserved. He could only blame himself for not ensuring that the defences around the outside were strong enough on a more regular basis.

Carefully placing the cushion back down of the arm of the settee, Heath finished his search of the second floor and began his ascent to the upper rooms of the apartment. Only twice in all his years of knowing Nell had he ever visited this area of her house: once on a trip to the bathroom at her house warming dinner party and second was the one and only time he had carried her home. Typically with his observant nature he had recalled that the first bedroom on the left of the small approaching landing was the spare room, the second door partially out of sight along the narrow strip was the bathroom followed round by the master bedroom down on the far right at the back of the house.

With the landing clear and emotionless he drew an uneasy breath and called out her name crisply into the shadows for the possibly the last time.

[Nicci]

(Having a stab at covering for the other two characters.. let me know what you think Tommy or if you want to take over one of them)

It was way past dark by the time Bill left the marbled frontage of Gringotts bank behind him as he strolled out of the door of the Leaky Cauldron. The pavement ahead was littered by the presence of general passing Muggles but none of them thought twice about staring at the young adult wizard as he disappeared off in the general direction of the Underground train station.
Bill had hoped that an afternoon in the office spent deciphering and unlocking a cursed lockbox should have shifted the nagging feeling in the back of his mind but yet it was still fresh, upfront and becoming a bit of a cerebral nightmare. Maybe he should have pulled Heath aside and told him about the letter he had received that morning in the early mail? Why couldn’t it just have been a general notice or a demand for payment?

As he embarked on the short five minute trip on the Northbound Northern line to Tottenham Court Road, he slouched against a glass partition and closed his eyes, allowing his thoughts to jostle around to the rhythmic motion of the carriage. It was the sudden jerk and frantic barging of bodies past him that carried him off into the network of rat tunnels and escalators, accompanied by the combined smell of damp, urine and ozone.
The Oxford Street air felt slightly more refreshing as Bill plodded around the corner past the coffee shop that he had been in that morning and hurried through the hushed gates of Soho Square.

Soho Square, the picturesque little grassed area with the tall oak trees and wooden benches that was beautiful during the day but took on a whole eerie world of its own at night. As Bill stared absorbing every visual element about the park with every footstep his hairs stood on end. Maybe it was his mind playing tricks or the combined twitching of roosting pigeons that made him feel uncomfortable.
Shoving his hands deep inside his trouser pocket and concentrating on getting to the safety of Heath’s office, he ignored the eerie warning signs and directed his attention towards 13 Manette Street. Next time he would make sure he took the pavement around the edge of the park or made the long walk up Charing Cross Road instead.

Sotheby & Sons insurance company office slept soundly in darkness as Bill approached the shared green door and withdrew his wand. He didn’t need keys, despite what Heath constantly said, one simple password was enough for any ‘normal’ wizard to enter and he helped himself into the warm space of the dimly lit hallway beyond. Popping a pepper imp into his mouth and bounding up the stairs, Bill uncaringly burst through the door making himself already feel at home and unexpectedly found himself face to face with Clarke’s moonlit silhouette standing in the living room picking up her belongings off the coffee table.

For a silent moment of contemplating her choice of evening wear or the shortest of shorts in September, Bill was about to speak but found himself rudely interrupted.

“What the hell do you want?” Clarke spat unimpressed by the sudden interruption and pulling her pile of books close to her chest to cover up her overly large printed t-shirt.
“He’s not here”.

“Heath?” Bill questioned with a partial head tilt before remembering why he had come to the office in the first place “No..I mean, I came here to apologise... to you?”

“Yeah right!” Clarke answered spinning on her heels and exhaling with a scoff before disappearing back into her newly created room.
“I hope you enjoyed making me feel childish and insignificant along with...whatever her name is”.

[Thomas]

Stella glanced up at the two of them, her eyes ablaze with intention.
"Do you know what this means? She's wandless". The two of them were staring intently at the wand, huge grins plastered over their faces. She grinned, they weren't expecting it either.
She flicked her own wand and Peter dropped to the floor. Michael looked aghast "What th-", he was cut off mid sentence as he fended off a barrage of stunning spells. He dived back through the door, he wasn't sure what had just happened but that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was that he didn't get hit. He legged it towards the stairs and gasped as a searing heat tore across his thigh.
(I'm sorry I have to go - it's unpolished and rusty but it'll do ftm :/).

[Nicci]

Dejectedly Heath hung his head as still the house rang with an eerie silence, all that stood between him and the last unchecked room was the seemingly intact wooden bathroom door. The shadows of the darkness kept hidden any minor marks caused by the magical intruders and instinctively he reached instead for the door’s handle.
Surprised and now growing even more concerned, the whole handle and lock mechanism was welded tightly shut and stuck rigidly in Heath’s grasp. Using the full force in his arm, he tugged and pulled at the handle but still it refused to turn.

“NELL!!” Heath yelled in a bellow, slamming his palm on the flat surface multiple times in quick succession.
“Nell!, If you’re in there stand away from the door”.

Desperate to get into the room beyond, Heath for once didn’t stop to strategically plan a practical method instead naturally chose to stand close to the bathroom door and kick it in to break it free from the frame. If all else failed he would have to resort to his wand and his explosive spell arsenal.
Once SLAM, twice SLAM, thrice..an almighty crack burst through vertically as Heath’s rather smart shoe heel collided with the natural grain revealing a weakness and then a rather large gaping hole.

Gasping for a much needed breath of air, Heath paused momentarily before shoulder barging in what was left of the door around the broken lock too reveal the stunning, but also seemingly empty moonlit bathroom.

That was it, nothing… all that work and the entire house was empty. Physically drained and now emotionally refilled, Heath staggered a few stumbled steps across the cold tiles and slumped heavy down on the side of the posh freestanding bath holding his head in his hands. Too many questions flew through his mind at that precise moment, where was Nell? What had happened in the bathroom? Was he himself to blame for the intruders targeting the house or did Nell have problems of her own that she hadn’t told him? Why hadn't she told him? What should he do now? Contact the police, the Ministry, Damien?.....Why of all people did this have to happen to her?

Sickened with the ever growing worry he wiped a tear away from his left eye and sighed. Now he’d have to think seriously and come up with a new plan of action.

[Thomas]

Stella stabbed one last stunning spell and he dropped like a fly. Her heart was pounding, she grabbed her chest - that was far too close. She turned towards the bathroom and blasted the door through - she needed to act fast. Nell was still here, she could tell. She dropped both wands and pushed her awareness out into the room. She sensed the block and gently but urgently stripped the layers of magic off. They had to leave now. She bent down and picked up the wands and lifted Nell up gently. She heard a stir in the bedroom - time to go , but first she needed to leave a hint. She flicked her wand and summoned a pin from the pinboard. She just had to hope that Peter and Michael wouldn't notice.

Gripping Nell close she turned on the spot and held her breath as she lurched through the air. Gasping a little with the effort she dropped Nell onto the bed had now appeared in front of her. Her cover was blown but it had been only a matter of time anyway - she'd got too deep. Stella sat down ready to wait for Nell to surface and hoped Heath could decipher the clue soon.

[Nicci]

Struggling to heave himself back up onto his feet stricken with an unquenchable pang of guilt, Heath stumbled over to the brilliant white freestanding hand basin and gripped the scallop molded frieze tightly until his finger tips lost their feeling.
He had to get it together; he had to go back to thinking rationally; he had to follow his gut instinct because right now he was losing time!.

Sucking in a deep, gasp of empty bathroom air, Heath drew himself up straight and confronted the sunken, dark eyed stranger that lurked back at him from behind the mirror glass. Vanity wasn’t a particular favourite pastime of his, nor was defining his passing years by counting the numbers of grey hairs or wrinkles he had inherited lately but somehow in that reflection he was still who he always was. Truthful, honest....determined.

Filling up the hand basin partially with cold water from the faucet and splashing a fresh awakening to his senses, Heath was about to pull out the silver plated plug when something unusual caught his eye glinting in a grout depression between the floor tiles. A drawing pin?
Usually one wouldn’t question it’s out of place location if it was one of the little metal tacks that accidently get trodden on and stick into the rubber of your shoe. But somehow this little long pin one with a coloured spherical bobble on the end, unlikely wandered up to the bathroom by itself... it reminded him of the little red ones he had back in the office pressed into his map joined to the ends of bits of corresponding wool or ones that neatly adhered darling little bits of everyday information to the cork board in Nell’s......kitchen.

Damien.... This is who the nuggets of effective remembrance were for. To note the changes to the wheeled bin collection days or what items were desperately low in the cupboards or sentimental expressive personal thoughts, usually a work colleague wouldn’t happen to read or take note of... Not for him!. However bin day was a Tuesday, milk and bread usually ran out before anything else and then there was ALWAYS a bright yellow smiley face on the board somewhere.

Twirling the silver pin back and forth between his thumb and forefinger it was a foolish whim to think that with the chaotic state of the house, Nell might have actually left him a note. He had been too preoccupied and worried in the dark to check on his way through the house but now it was lifeless there was no point in hanging around unwelcomed in someone’s bathroom. There was a door to mend and a whole host of destruction to try and put right in between his current position and the kitchen...but at least they were only the first steps to try and find his missing friend.

[Thomas]

Stella frowned... she had to go back. Nell was safe here for now, she had a narrow window of oppurtunity to get this back on track. She threw down Nell's wand and apparated back to the bathroom, charging towards the stairs, her feet barely having touched the ground. She slashed her wand at the still prone figure slumped on the stairs.
'Obliviate'
The charm hit him square on the back. Turning she sprinted towards the bedroom, flicking her wand over her shoulder to the door as she passed.
'Reparo'
She could see Peter now, groaning and turning over. She stabbed her wand out and yelled.
"Obliviate
Peter paused and then groaned again. Stella rushed over to him.
"Peter? 'Rennervate' Peter, quick we need to go"
She grabbed him by the arm as he roused, hauling him onto his feet.
"Michael! We have to leave... now!"
She dragged Peter along behind her down the hall. She could see Michael starting to rouse. She needed to think fast, how could she explain all this? For now they'd be happy to flee the scene, but soon they'd both be wanting answers.

[Nicci]

(It's only been 4 and a half years between my posts, no wonder I feel rusty)

It was the faint wail of a siren somewhere in the distance that snapped Heath out of his deep lull of concentration, as the tall man with only the light from the tip of his wand meticulously cast and commanded his incantations to rearrange any out of place belongings to the best of his aging memory on the top floor of the house that belonged to his friend.
With the drawing pin nestled safely in his pocket, he wasn’t surprised that even with all the time he had been there alone, no Muggle police had arrived and likely the neighbours were none the wiser with regards to the comings and goings of anyone that evening. It cemented his conclusion that Nell had been visited by other magic possessors, but from the chaos of the upheaval the number could have indicated the presence of more than one visitor.

Traversing a last time like a ghost past the darkened windows, he was content with his ‘tidying’ of the upper level. Things weren’t pristinely placed in their original dwelling places like how Nell would have left them, but generally to him it looked welcoming: no gaping voids, which might indicate a stolen objects; no drawers and cupboards left haphazardly ajar and no papers lazily strewn about. There was little point leaving the house in a mess for the sake of evidence, the ministry would take an interest in the case for two minutes and then brush the intrusion a side. The intruders were long gone taking their intentions with them, but if he couldn’t locate Nell within the next few hours then he would have to take things up personally with the Ministry of Magic and on his head be it that he made the decision to leave a friend’s house in the way that he would want her to come back and find it.

His long silent strides across the plush carpet left him standing on the threshold facing the partially opened bedroom door. Through the wide slit, the sight to beheld beyond made his heart feel heavy. He couldn’t do it...how could they as strangers invade such a private space? It saddened him to see the once surely crease free duvet cover wrinkled and offset at a peculiar angle, like someone had sat down unwelcomed on it and her evening’s choice of attire crumpled up in an unwanted heap at the foot of the bed. Raising his wand and aiming through the gap, a simple mutter of hover charm under his breath brought life back into the dress and it twirled in the air effortlessly like it was being worn by it’s elegant owner before laying back at rest on the re-straightened duvet.
It would have been a good choice...he couldn’t deny that.

It was at least another forty five minutes before Heath descended the final staircase into Nell’s kitchen. Likely it would be gone midnight before he left the house and even though time was definitely of the essence in finding Nell he couldn’t up and go without setting the ground floor straight. In the dim glow of the wandlight, he gazed about the room with raised eyebrows and disbelief.. It was like an explosion had occured in the cereal factory and flakes of pressed corn had found themselves plastered into every nook and cranny in the vicinity of the cooking space. He couldn’t quite fathom what the intruders had hoped to find in the cereal box or if they were just hungry?
‘At least it wasn’t the little balls of fluffed rice’ crossed his mind as he silently thanked Nell for choosing one of the healthier supermarket options, as the flakes stuck to the bottom of his rubber soled shoes with a crunch.

Finally finding himself back at the front door and having inspected it for any signs of tampering. Heath put his applewood wand back in his jacket’s inside breast pocket and placed his hands in his side pockets to gather any last thoughts about the crime scene.
To his surprise the drawing pin that he had found on the tiled floor of the bathroom, jabbed sharply into his index finger and he retreated his hand away as it reminded him of its presence. Once again he found himself drawn to the little plastic topped spike, like he had been when he found it upstairs. Apart from the effects of rummaging, the small pin had been the only thing that he had found that hadn’t been in the correct room.

Possibly small and insignificant in its own right, but it reminded him of the pinboard and the politeness that he really ought to leave Nell a message. A ‘sorry’ or a ‘don’t worry’ could have been appropriate, but as he made his way back to the kitchen arming himself with the rainbow stack of spiralling sticky notes and a pen as he passed the edge of the kitchen counter his initial thoughts made him seem like he was the offending intruder.

Drumming the biro against the edge of the pad to make a tapping rhythm, although sounding hurried it didn’t help produce words faster. Articulating clever memos or witty notes was never his forte and compared to the ones already in place with their meaningful remembrance or caring positivity whatever he wrote would stand out like a sore thumb in his messy handwriting.
Struck by a moment of quick thinking he wrote down two simple block capital words disguising the numerals creatively as letters… 'WIDAAP' ASAP. She’d know what it meant, she was Nell. It’s where she could always find him in an emergency.

Using the loose pin from the bathroom, Heath pulled of the top sheet of sticky paper and forcefully pushed the note secure to the pinboard before the few sheets of paper and an envelope came loose from the pinboard just below his note and crashed to the kitchen floor at his feet.