Hey guys! So this is another little thing I've been working on. It won't be a regular update, since I have a lot of other stories that are higher priority, but every now and then, I'll post another chapter. This story will cover a whole range of perspectives but will mainly follow James and Sirius. Pairings are: James/Lily, Sirius/Marlene, Frank/Alice, Remus/Dorcas. Please enjoy! xx

Chapter 1

As Anita Potter had only one son, she never thought that on the day before Hogwarts recommenced, that she would have a house full of teenagers. But, indeed she did. They were all crowded in James' room and were strangely solemn- hardly making any noise at all. Of course recently there had been many reasons to be grim. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was growing stronger every day and even Muggles were becoming aware of his presence. Deaths occurred almost daily now and it was taking all of Anita's strength not to worry about her husband, Harold, when he was on night patrol. Anita knew it was grim, when even her teenage son and friends felt the dark, cold cloud settling over the magical world.

So, in order to alleviate the tense atmosphere, Anita decided to bake some cookies for her houseguests. She knew for certain that Sirius loved her cookies and hopefully the others would too. The Potters lived a simple, lonely life out in the country. They owned an expansive Manor House up on a hill that had a beautiful view of the country side below. Their large house, however, had been a wasteful expense, for they only had one son and therefore many of the rooms were neglected by all except the House Elf; Kitty. Then, about a year ago, Sirius Black had moved in with the Potters during the summer to escape his 'pureblood mania family'. Having another young man in the house had filled Anita's life with happiness and excitement. She enjoyed fussy over the boys and had never cooked so much food in her life - and she thought James ate like a hippogriff. But mostly, she simply enjoyed the company of another youthful face. Despite his harsh upbringing by his neurotic mother and his rebellious attitude that had resulted from it, Sirius was a sweet boy with a kind heart. He would always try his hardest to help her out and please her, and Anita loved him as if he was her own.

With a silver tray laden with chocolate chip cookies in one hand, Anita traipsed upstairs to James' bedroom. She knocked on the door.
"James dear," she said, "Are you all alright up here?"
James' voice floated under the door, "Yes, Mum."
She opened the door to find his room completely filled with teenagers. James was lying on the ground, his glasses askew and his arm around his recent girlfriend, Lily Evans. She clung to his side and rested her head on his chest, her dark red hair splayed out along the floor. Over by the wall was Remus Lupin, his legs stretched in front of him and his head tilted back against the wall as he slept. Dorcas Meadowes was sitting next to him, her head buried in a book. Over on the bed, Sirius was lying on his back with his arms behind his head, as Marlene McKinnon lay over his stomach, her legs kicking up behind her and her head resting in her hands as her eyes darted around the room. Peter Pettigrew was leaning against the window, staring out into the dark night. And at James' desk, sat Alice Prewett, scrawling a letter furiously.
"Hey, Mrs Potter," said Sirius from the bed.
"Hello, Sirius, dear," said Anita with a smile. "I've made you all some chocolate chip cookies, if you want them."
Lily stood up and gave Anita a pleasant smile. "Thanks, Mrs Potter," she said. "These look delicious."
"They certainly are, Evans," said Sirius. "Mrs Potter makes the best cookies."
Anita smiled
"Thanks, Mum," said James, standing up and taking the tray from her. "These look great."
Anita kissed his cheek quickly before leaving. "Call me if you need anything." She shut the door and then went downstairs to await Harold's return.

xXx

With a triumphant sigh, Alice put down her quill and began folding up her letter to her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom. Her fingers ached a little from writing so fast and she flexed them slowly to relieve the stiffness before turning around to face her friends.

"James?" she asked. He lifted up his head slightly from his position on the floor. "Do you mind if I borrow your owl to send this letter to Frank?"

James grunted and shook his head. Alice gave him a grateful beam and bounded out of the desk chair and over to the bedside table upon which sat James' owl. She quickly tied the letter around its outstretched leg and opened the window, letting a blast of muggy, hot air fill the crowded bedroom. Alice released the owl and shut the window, watching as the tawny owl disappeared into the darkness. With another sigh, she sat at the end of James' bed and placed her hands in her lap, wringing them together in worry.

James watched her with concern. Alice had changed so much over the summer. She had cut off all her long blonde hair, leaving it short and spikey around her pixie face. She was much thinner too, her petite frame almost nothing but skin and bones. But most of all, she looked paler. There were constant, dark shadows under her pretty blue eyes and her face was so insipid, she looked as though she was ill. James was becoming exceedingly worried for her.

Marlene seemed to share his concern and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder.

"You okay, Al?"

Alice turned to face her and gave her a weak smile. "Yeah," she said uncertainly.

"How's Frank?"

Once more, Alice paled slightly and her lower lip trembled a little. "He's… busy," she began. "He's already graduated his Auror training. Now, he's a fully qualified Auror." She tried to look happy, but her eyes were widened in fear.

"I thought he still had another year?" asked Marlene, cocking her head to the side and swishing her pale blonde hair over one shoulder.

Alice shrugged, "I don't know. I suppose they are just desperate for more Aurors that they graduated him early." She bit her lip and Marlene squeezed her shoulder comfortingly.

"It's okay, Al. Frank will be fine. He's a great wizard."

Alice gave her a small smile and sniffed loudly.

"Urgh, Marls, get off me. You're crushing my ribs," groaned Sirius, pushing Marlene off him with his hands. Marlene snapped her head around and glared at him.

"You didn't complain of sore ribs the other night!" she snapped at him, her nostrils flaring. Sirius scowled back at her, his grey eyes narrowing underneath his silky, black hair.

"The other night, I was on top of you, remember!"

Marlene gasped in outrage and quickly jumped off him, taking care to elbow him in the stomach.

"Oh yeah?" she spat venomously. "Well, that will most certainly never happen again!" She crossed her legs and shifted closer to Alice, who was staring at the two of them in shock.

"Would you two knock it off!" ordered Lily, standing up, crossing her arms and staring at them in disgust. Sirius merely snorted and looked away haughtily, a smirk etched upon his face. "Remus is asleep, give him some peace and quiet! Besides," she glanced over at Dorcas who was still absorbed in her book, "I'm sure Dorcas doesn't want to be interrupted by knowing about your sexual escapades!"

Marlene huffed and turned her nose up in the air stubbornly. Lily, exasperated at her two friends, lied back down next to James and curled up against his chest, muttering a string of curses. Dorcas sighed and shut her book, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"It's alright, Lily," she said in her soft, meek voice. "It's a boring book anyway." She took her glasses off and cleaned them with the hem of her white nightgown.

"Excuse me, I'm going to the bathroom," exclaimed Peter from over by the window. He had been so quiet that James had forgotten he was there. Peter opened the door, taking a cookie from the tray on the way out, and then closed it, leaving the room in an awkward silence. Sirius sat up and tapped Marlene on the shoulder.

"What?" she asked bitterly, her hair hitting him across the face as she turned to glare at him. He reached up and brushed a lock of hair away from her face, his long, pale fingers brushing along her jaw.

"I'm sorry for being a prat, Marley," he said sincerely.

She closed her eyes and leant into his hand. "No, I was being a bitch," she admitted. Sirius smiled and kissed her softly, before lying back on the bed, pulling her with him. She rested her head on his chest and they laced their fingers together. Dorcas sighed and shook her head at the pair of them.

"I wonder how Mary is doing?" Lily wondered out loud. Mary MacDonald, fellow Gryffindor and friend, had lost her cousin over the summer. He had been killed by You-Know-Who's followers – the Death Eaters – and Mary had spent the summer with her family in Scotland. Lily hadn't heard from her at all.

"She won't be at school for a while," Alice supplied quietly. "Her family are going into hiding and Mary with them. In fact, I'll be surprised if she returns this year at all."

"Poor thing," said Lily sadly. "I can't imagine what she must be going through."

James sat up and groaned. "I can't believe we have to go back to school tomorrow."

Lily gave him a strange look. "What do you mean?"

"We don't need school. We need to fight! Being stuck at Hogwarts is not going to win the war! We need to join the Order!"

"You're being silly," she said, frowning at him.

"No he's not, Evans," Sirius said. "He's right! We need to fight!" He turned to Alice. "Has Frank joined the Order yet?"

Alice nodded and her lip trembled. "Yes," she said quietly, tears welling in her eyes and spilling down her cheeks. "Excuse me." She rushed from the bedroom – her sobs could be heard outside the door.

"Good one, Sirius," Marlene grumbled, turning on Sirius. "You know she's worried about Frank. Why did you have to bring up the Order for?"

Dorcas stood up and patted down her nightgown. "I'll go find her," she offered, and left the room.

An awkward silence hovered over them. Peter returned and sat at the desk, tapping his wand on his knee.

"What did I miss?" he asked vaguely.

"Sirius made Alice upset by talking about the Order," said Lily gravely.

"I didn't mean to," said Sirius, honestly. "But at least he's doing something purposeful with his talent. What do you guys want to do once we leave Hogwarts?"

"Join the Order!" cried James and Marlene at the same time.

"Me too," said Sirius. "Wormtail?"

Peter shifted his gaze between James and Sirius. His beady, watery eyes widened in fear and he swallowed loudly.

"Erm – join the Order?" he said uncertainly, hoping to impress his friends.

"Nice," said Sirius, nodding his head in approval. "What about you, Evans?"

Lily chewed on her lip for a moment, twirling her dark red hair around her finger. Her bright green eyes glazed over as she thought.

"I don't know," she said finally.

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked James, incredulously. "Are you going to join the Order with us?"

Lily simply shrugged. "I don't know," she repeated. "I guess I'm torn between two things. I want to have a career, but I also want to fight.

Sirius scoffed. "There's no point getting a career now," he said bluntly. "If we win the war, then they'll be all the time in the world to get a career. But if we lose to him, then you'll be dead anyway, career or no career."

"Padfoot…" James warned, giving his best friend a warning look.

"What?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm just being honest."

At that moment, the door opened and Alice entered, wiping her red, puffy eyes with the back of her hand, and reclaimed her spot on the end of the bed. Dorcas followed and resumed her position next to Remus, leaning into his side and resting her hand on Remus' arm.

"Sorry," said Alice sheepishly. "I didn't mean to get so upset… I'm just worried about Frank."

Lily gave Alice a reassuring smile. "You have every right to be worried about him. I'm worried too. We all are." Alice smiled and wiped her eyes again. "Do you know what you want to do next year?"

"Well, I really want to become an Auror," she said confidently. "I want to help fight the war, but I also want to be close to Frank."

"You'd be a great Auror," said Lily.

"Auror Alice," said Marlene dramatically. "It kind of has a ring to it, don't you think?"

Lily laughed and then posed the same question at Dorcas.

Dorcas shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know," she admitted honestly. "I would love to become a Healer at St Mungo's, but I'm not sure it's such a good idea right now when we are in the middle of a war. So, I guess I'll just join the Order."

The silence continued, save for Remus' snoring, until Dorcas exclaimed that she must leave because it's past her curfew.

"I'll walk back with you," said Alice. "I probably should get going, it's getting late. I'll just get Frank to pick me up from your house."

Dorcas nodded happily and the two girls slung their arms together and said 'goodbye' to the others before leaving. Peter quickly followed, wanting to get home to the safety of his mother as quickly as possible. Marlene was the next to leave and leant over to kiss Sirius passionately.

"Don't forget to pick me up tomorrow or I'll hex you into oblivion," she threatened, before giving Lily a quick hug and disappearing down the stairs.

Lily stayed the longest, sitting up and pulling her hair back into a ponytail. James put his arms around her shoulders and kissed her quickly, just a soft brush of lips. Her cheeks went a bright pink and James couldn't help but feel proud that he had made the stubborn Lily Evans blush.

"Is Remus staying here tonight?" she asked as she got up to leave.

"Yes."

"Make sure you give him a proper place to sleep," she told him firmly, before giving Sirius a quick hug and heading downstairs.

Once she was gone, James sat down on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. He released a deep sigh and Sirius regarded him with concern.

"What's wrong, mate?" he asked.

"I'm just worried… about everything," James said slowly. "I'm worried about how bad it's getting… how strong he's getting. I'm worried about this year, and our NEWTs and whether they even matter at all. And about Mary. And Lily – her family are Muggles, they're easy targets. But I suppose… I'm mostly worried about my parents."

James turned to face Sirius, his brown eyes betraying his feelings through his round spectacles. "Dad's been working later than ever and it's really stressing Mum out. I just hope he's okay."

Sirius reached over and patted James on the back. "I'm worried too," he said. "I'm worried about Andy and her kid. And I'm probably a major target because I disowned my family. I reckon my mother's probably sent Death Eaters after me so that she can hang my head up on a wall and throw darts at it." He gave an uneasy laugh and ran a hand through his silky hair. "But I'm really worried about Regulus. He's a good kid really, just hangs out in the wrong crowds. I'm afraid he'll join the Death Eaters." He added nervously, giving James a quick glance.

"You reckon?"

Sirius nodded gravely. "It's almost a certainty. I guess I always knew that would happen. But the thing I fear the most, is that I'll have to fight him."

The two boys sat in silence for a while, thinking of their own worries about what the war would bring, until a particularly loud snore from Remus brought them back to reality. They picked up their sleeping friend and took his downstairs, where Mrs Potter gave them all a hearty dinner. Eventually, they wandered upstairs late in the night; parting their separate ways to go to bed. The last thing James saw before he drifted off to sleep was a flash of dark red hair and a pair of bright, green eyes.

Please read and review! :D xx