A/N: All of the names, characters, etc. in this story belong to J. K. Rowling, not me. If they did belong to me, I'd be rich and famous, but they don't, so I'm not... yet.
They stood, silhouetted against the clear blue of the lake, some nervous, some happy, some in tears, but all together, as a whole, for one last time. The graduating class had finally received their diplomas and wands flew about wildly as pictures were taken, fireworks were summoned, and banners were conjured. Apart from the cheering group stood four friends, under an old beech tree where they'd spent so many free afternoons, laughing and joking.
"I guess this is it," Peter Pettigrew whispered, looking utterly terrified at the thought of entering the real world.
Sirius let out a loud, bark-like laugh, throwing his head back gracefully, "Of course this isn't 'it', Wormy!"
"Peter, do you really think we're all going to go off and never speak to each other again now that we've graduated?" James asked him rather like a teacher would ask a particularly dull student.
"Oh… no, of course not!" Peter said, but he sounded very relieved all the same.
The friends stood in silence for a few moments, staring out over the lake, each lost in his own thoughts. "So…" Remus Lupin said at last, "Do you reckon we ask Dumbledore now?"
For years they had been plotting about what they might do when they left Hogwarts, but it hadn't been until their seventh year that the marauders had come up with anything solid. They'd begun by noticing Dumbledore's unexplained absences from the castle, the whispers of a group that could defeat Lord Voldemort, and the hope that maybe they could do something important, something that might mean something to the world.
Next they'd, quite uncharacteristically, quietly observed for months on end, and now, at last, they were ready to confront the headmaster and force him to let them join this secret group. This was a feat that they assumed would be much easier said then done, and so they'd discussed again and again what they might say to convince Dumbledore, but still they had nothing and at last they had to face the fact that the best they could do was just go and ask him and improvise if things weren't going well.
"I guess there's no point in waiting," James said, sounding nervous. He ran his fingers through his tousled dark hair and looked around at Sirius. "What do you think?" he asked.
"What better time than now?" Sirius said lightly.
"Besides, if we wait much longer we may not get a chance," Remus said. James nodded and lead the small group across the sloping, twilit, grounds to the small cluster of parents and teachers who were milling about, shaking hands with one another and chatting. The headmaster stood a little ways off from the group and was just saying goodbye to another proud parent.
The friends stopped a few meters behind Dumbledore, collecting themselves, before Sirius said bracingly, "Come on, we might as well go now," and walked resolutely forward, the others trailing behind him.
"Ah, Sirius Black, congratulations, of course. Well done, quite a handful of N.E.W.T.s I hear…"
"Yes, well, we've come to speak with you," James, who had come to stand behind Sirius announced. Remus, too had joined them, and even Peter had started to take a few more hesitant steps toward Dumbledore.
Dumbledore nodded, "I thought as much,"
"You did?" Sirius asked, sounding surprised, but James shook his head.
"We want to ask you… or rather, to tell you that we want, I mean, we've decided we're going to join the- the group that's, er, fighting You-Know-Who," James said, his eyes challenging the headmaster to disagree.
"Yes," Dumbledore said wearily, "I know. First, however, I must make a few things clear. All members of the organization, the Order of the Phoenix, as it's called, are in great danger at all times. I must warn you that were you to join the Order," Sirius indignantly opened his mouth to speak.
Dumbledore held up his hand patiently, "I'm not forbidding you from joining it, Mr. Black. Now that you've graduated, I'm afraid that is quite out of my control. Even if the power to prohibit you was still mine, I doubt I would use it. I would, in fact, encourage four brilliant young wizards like yourselves to join the Order if I were not afraid for your lives. However, I'm going to do my best to warn and prepare you fairly. As I was saying, were you to join the Order, it would put you and all those you love in great personal danger. Fighting Voldemort," all the marauders flinched slightly, except for Peter, who, at the name, whimpered pitifully and gave an involuntary shiver.
"Fighting Voldemort," Dumbledore began again, stubbornly emphasizing the name, "is not an easy job. It takes skill and intelligence. And it isn't all action-filled duels with spells hurtling across dark dungeons… some of it, of course, does include actually physically fighting death eaters, but a lot is sitting behind desks, doing complicated incantations and looking up facts. Half of the work that has to be done is just locating death eaters. Recruiting new members is also a big part of it, as is protecting Voldemort's possible victims as well as we can. If you did decide to join, you would probably not see action for a long while… although, I cannot guarantee that as we are pitifully low on members. There'd be lots of paperwork to fill out and lots of people you'd need to talk to, and in the end, it might turn out to be quite a waste of time and energy if Voldemort were to prevail,"
"We don't care," James broke in, his voice confident.
"I can only speak for myself, but I'm almost certain my friends feel the same way. We are prepared to take any risk in order to help destroy Voldemort," Remus said. Dumbledore surveyed him carefully.
"I can see that," he said at last, in a quiet voice, "You have understood everything I have said?" All the marauders, even Peter, nodded.
"Then tomorrow we shall go to the headquarters of the Order and introduce our newest members. I suggest all of you enjoy one last night partying with your friends. You should then try and get a good night's sleep before you begin on your quest of destroying Voldemort," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. Once again, a shiver at the name of the Dark Lord passed through the group. "Ah, that reminds me. If you are to join the Order, you will need to get over trembling every time Lord Voldemort's name is mentioned. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself," With that, Dumbledore turned and strode off toward the castle, humming cheerfully.