July 14, 1995

I was currently standing on a desolate old street deep within the heart of London under the cover of the night sky waiting for the appearance of a ghost from my past. The Muggles inside the apartments in front of me carried on with their nightly activities without any notice towards the lone figure standing outside their homes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man making his way towards my position among the sidewalk benches.

"Charlotte Potter. I see after all these years you have not aged a day," said an older wizard dressed in flowing robes of maroon and silver as he walked into the light of the street lamps.

"Albus, how wonderful to finally meet with you again, despite these unfortunate circumstances," I said as I tucked a stray piece of my hair behind my ears. "I'm not sure why you asked me to meet you at this particular spot, but then again you were always one of the most eccentric men I ever met."

His eyes twinkled with amusement behind his half-moon spectacles and gave me a small grin out of the corner of his bearded face. He quietly handed me a torn piece of parchment, which he was carrying inside his breast pocket. "Memorize the contents of this note and then concentrate on the message as best as you can," said Albus,"but quickly for I do not want us outside for much longer. You never know who could be lurking in the shadows."

I opened the folded paper only to find a brief sentence written in Dumbledore's hand.

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

I shot my former headmaster a look of determination and turned my gaze to apartments number eleven and thirteen directly across the street. A few moments later the two buildings began to slowly shift apart while another apartment began to wedge itself between the other homes. After it had fully appeared Albus reached to grab my trunk as I pulled my coat tighter around my body. Despite the summer heat a shiver ran down my spine as we approached the large door fitted with a door handle in the shape of a serpent. I wondered why this place seemed so familiar, but I would find out soon enough. Dumbledore opened the door to reveal a long hallway lined with dusty portraits.

"How did you come across this place sir?" I asked taking in the house's musty old smell as we made our way to the closed door at the end of the hall. Underneath the door there was a small amount of light shining through, clearly signaling that the room was in fact occupied.

"An old friend was kind enough to allow us to use his newly acquired residence for the base of our operation." Albus paused before the entryway to the mysterious room. "Charlotte, I must ask you stay calm when we enter the room, there is a meeting currently taking place and you will no doubt be taken a back by much of the information discussed. Tonight you will be reacquainted with many figures from your past and in time… I hope that you will be able to put your faith in your friends once more. We are stronger untied than apart. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." I set my shoulders back and took a deep breath as the door opened. I was met by eight pairs of widened eyes, as I walked into a large kitchen filled by a long wooden table, which was currently occupied by Order members. My focus however, was drawn to the slim man sitting at the head of the table. It was apparent that Azkaban had taken a toll on my childhood companion. His beautiful black hair was slightly longer than he wore it at school and lightly streaked with small hints of grey. What shocked me the most was that his aristocratic good looks did not fade despite his time in prison, but it was evident that his face was thinner and his skin was paler than it once was all those years ago. My heart caught in my throat as he slowly raised his grey eyes to meet my glassy blue eyes from across the room. His face bore a look of shock and recognition as he slightly rose from his seat as if he wanted to rush to my side, but he was unable to completely stand before Albus laid his hand a top my shoulder as he came behind me.

"Good evening everyone. I trust many of you remember this charming young woman standing before me?" Albus beckoned me to step farther into the room, which I did after a moment of hesitation. He crossed the room and took a seat at the middle of the wooden table. "This is…"

"Charlotte…" Sirius said with the faintest of whispers. The emotions I was trying to hold back with all my might came rushing out with the mention of my name escaping from his lips. I lowered my gaze and tried to focus on a single spot on the table for the remainder of Dumbledore's introduction.

Albus clasped his hand together, discreetly cleared his throat, and continued his speech after Sirius's interruption. "Miss Potter has reemerged from hiding at my request. As you all know, Voldemort has returned according to Harry Potter's testimony. Charlotte is here to equip Harry with the knowledge of his parents and the Potter family. He needs as many helping hands as he can get in these terrible months a head. We shall discuss the date of his arrival at another time, for now I leave you all to help Charlotte adjust to her new home. Sirius I hope it is no trouble to allow Miss Potter to occupy one of the rooms here at Grimmauld Place? I know you would not object to the company of an old friend." Sirius silently nodded his head in affirmation towards the silver bearded wizards request, while the tall, shabby clothed figure of Remus Lupin stood to escort the Headmaster out so he could journey to his next destination. The two men walked out of room leaving me with seven surprised, but familiar faces.

Disclaimer: I own nothing created by the amazing J.K. Rowling. My only original character is Charlotte Potter.

A/N: Wow I managed to write another chapter in less than a day. Hopefully I will be able to update once a week if possible between college and work. Hope you all enjoyed chapter 2 and if you have any thoughts please feel free to send them my way. I also want to point out that I am writing this story without a BETA so please forgive my grammar mistakes. I will try my best to catch as many of them as I can before publishing. Thanks again!