Laurel: A Very Long and Very Unusual Second Life
Part One: Renascentia [Rebirth]
Chapter Three: Pugnare [to Fight]
4 February 1979. 3:02pm
A clear ringing tone sung throughout the house and James was startled. He twitched and snorted, flipping from the couch he was draped across and onto the floor.
"Fuck me." He mumbled confusedly, looking around with frantic eyes and calming when he saw neither Lily nor Laurel. "That was close." He smirked to himself with a grateful chuckle. The ring sounded again. His head snapped up. "The door!" He exclaimed excitedly, looking stunningly like an excited family pet, rather than the husband of the family.
James rose to his feet and rearranged his robes to not reflect any internal disorder that may have arisen due to his quick awakening and he journeyed to the source of the sound. He turned the doorknob and the heavy wooden door swung open to reveal…
"Minnie!" James squeaked excitedly. He rushed forward through the doorframe with his arms open in welcome.
"No." 'Minnie' said severely.
"Wha—no?"
"No." The woman reiterated. James pouted and dropped his hands, lamenting the obvious one-sidedness to his and Minerva McGonagall's friendship-slash-mentorship.
"Why—are you here then? If not for a glorious reunion…" James sounded off-put. His visitor gave him a small sliver of a smile, undoubtedly considered alike a grin by her standards, and walked passed him when he waved her inside.
They came to the living room off to the side and they sat on opposing couches, one of which James had arose from so swiftly before.
"Professor Dumbledore has sent me." Minerva started.
"Dumbledore! How is ol' Dumby? Still up to the same old shenanigans?" James said in a joking tone. At Minerva's flat look, James rethought his joke, "I mean…what's goin' on Professor?" His tone cleared and became serious in response to her seriousness. She relented and her face softened, she reached into a pocket in her robes and took out a small scrap of parchment, and handed it to James.
"What's this?" James questioned hesitantly.
"Just read it, Mr Potter." Minerva said sternly.
At this, James opened the folded parchment and looked down, seeing a few lines written in brilliant green ink reminiscent of his love's emerald eyes, the handwriting recognisably Albus Dumbledore's.
"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,
35 Denmark Avenue, Wimbledon, London."
"What's the paper for? And what's the 'Order of the—'"
"The Order of the Phoenix was created by Professor Dumbledore after the war began, in an effort to combat the Death Eater forces. And the paper is a security measure; no one but Professor Dumbledore himself has the ability to tell others the location of our headquarters." Minerva interrupted James, who now looked at her with raised eyebrows and an overwhelmed smile.
"Okay. That's…quite the speech you got there. What does that have to do with me?" James mumbled confusedly.
"The Order's numbers have…depleted in recent times."
"Meaning, a lot of these 'Order' people have been killed?" James interjected.
"Yes." Minerva pursed her lips in discontent. "Albus has…seen potential, in a lot of recent graduates. This includes you, Mr Potter, as well as Miss Evans, Mr Black and Mr Lupin."
James nodded absently, twisting his mouth behind his fist. "Mrs Potter." He mumbled.
"Excuse me?" Minerva questioned with narrowed eyes.
"Lily, she married me. Took my name. Mrs Potter." James elaborated. Minerva notably almost rolled her eyes. "And Peter?"
"Mr Pettigrew?"
"You didn't say his name, does Dumbledore want him for the Order too?" James asked, loyal to the end. Minerva did not look so confident in Peter's ability.
"…Uh, yes." Minerva relented. "Mr Pettigrew is welcome to join along with the rest of you."
"So, this Order, you battle Death Eaters?" Minerva nodded. "You save Muggles? And Muggle-borns?" She nodded each time.
"Muggles, Pure-bloods, everyone in between. The Order wishes to put an end to Voldemort's reign of terror, and to the war." Minerva summarised, Scottish accent lilting dryly. James gave his ex-professor a wry smile and a grateful smile for her indulgence.
"Well, I can't speak for the others, but I'm in." James said confidently.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Mr Potter. Attend the next Order meeting, and bring your friends." Minerva insisted, she rose from the couch.
"Hey, stay? For tea? Tea is good…" James offered. Minerva gave him an indulgent smile and shook her head.
"I'm afraid I cannot, urgent business for the Order." Minerva explained. James relented and led her back to the front door. He bid her goodbye and shut the door behind her, a heavy thud resounding. He gave a serious sigh and went back to the couch, throwing himself onto it with a heave.
James felt that he had made the right choice, the obvious choice. Of course he had to fight in the war, against the Death Eaters and against Voldemort. He gave another sigh and rubbed his face with his hands.
"What's wrong with you, glum Gus?" He heard above him. Lily had come down from her and Laurel's nap. James' hands slid down his face and he saw his beautiful Lily above him, smiling warmly down at him, Laurel in her arms giving a dopey smile to him as well.
James grinned up at them, reaching up to take Laurel when Lily handed her down. Laurel flew through the air, James turning her to sit on his chest facing him. He picked up her hands and held on to help her sit up, she mumbled intelligibly at him with bright eyes and his heart warmed with love for her.
Lily smirked at her husband from above, finding the dopey expressions that both James and Laurel got around the people that they loved both amusing and adorable.
"What's wrong, babe?" She repeated. James broke eye contact with Laurel and looked up at Lily.
"Uh, Professor McGonagall just visited."
"She did, why?" Lily was confused, thinking it odd that an old professor would visit graduated students.
"Uh…I can't tell you." James lamented. "Oh, wait! Here!" He exclaimed, handing her the now crumpled piece of parchment that McGonagall had given him. Lily looked it over curiously.
"'The Order of the Phoenix'." She read. Lily looked up at her husband questioningly.
"Yeah, apparently Dumbledore has this army of people that are fighting against Voldemort!" James said, excited that he had found a way to tell her. "And he wants us to join!"
"Wh—fight Voldemort?" Lily said hesitantly.
"Yeah!"
"But, that's dangerous." She said somewhat redundantly.
"Well, obviously there's a bit of danger involved…but, this is exactly what Sirius was talking about at Christmas! Doing something!" James sat up, pulling Laurel to sit against his chest. He looked pleadingly towards his wife.
"I don't know…" She faltered.
"C'mon, Minnie said we can just go to the next meeting, and decide then." James explained.
"'Minnie'?" Lily deadpanned with a smirk at James' childhood nickname for the professor.
"Yes, Minnie." He emphasised. Lily remained hesitant, but seemed to be relenting, at least for the one meeting.
"Okay…but I reserve the right to change my mind!" Lily said, getting an instantaneous grin from James, causing her to smile softly in return.
"Yes! Now I gotta tell the other Marauder's!" James leapt up from his seat on the couch and handed Laurel to the startled Lily, rushing over to the fireplace.
10 February, 1979. 7:13pm
"The…first order of business is the attack that occurred last night at…9:30pm, on the outskirts of Birmingham, near Kingsbury Road. Eight Muggles were killed, and two Muggle-borns." Dumbledore stood at the head of a heavy, wooden table surrounded by the Order members lining each side, he detailed the most recent attack with seriousness.
The newest members of the Order, inducted earlier that night, were James, Lily, Sirius, Remus and Peter, and they huddled together near the corner of the room.
"Our Death Eater informant who shall not be named was able to provide an approximate time and location for this attack, and as such we arrived promptly and minimised damage." He continued, "The Aurors arrived some eight minutes after our intervention, we then left the battle to avoid prosecution. However, two Death Eaters were apprehended by the Aurors, they were unmasked as being Loralee Young and Tynere Blackwood."
Beside James, Sirius startled. His eyes widened and his throat tightened from remembering that Lora was in the year below them at Hogwarts, and that Sirius had dated her for a month, a surprisingly long time for him.
"Voldemort's immediate forces are now estimated by our informant to be of approximately 43 persons." Most of the Order members cringed reflexively at Voldemort's name, accustomed to the more common, 'You-Know-Who'.
"And we are?" A man interjected from Dumbledore's side. He looked towards the man questioningly, blue eyes twinkling behind his half-moon spectacles.
"I assume you are talking of our own numbers?" Dumbledore asked kindly. The man gave a short nod in return, hands crossed and with a stern look on his face.
"As of today, the Order of the Phoenix has 27 members—"
"Oh, we're including the children now, are we?"
"Luciano, these men and women may have just graduated—"
"No—"
"But!" Dumbledore said forcefully, contrasting greatly to his earlier and usual kindness, causing Luciano and the other Order members to jump slightly. "I assure you, they are entirely capable duellists, and as such are capable of becoming prominent and successful Order members. Otherwise, I would not have invited them to join us here!" Dumbledore lightened towards the end, giving a look to Luciano, almost daring him to argue further. Luciano gave another short nod, this time relenting to Dumbledore's better judgement.
James just continued to sit amongst his friends, watching the proceedings with a serious face and a heavy heart.
10 February, 1979. 10:20pm
The Order meeting had just concluded, and James and his friends were at the end of the line for the fireplace when Dumbledore approached them.
"Would you five please remain?" Dumbledore said, motioning towards the five friends. He ushered them back towards the room with the large wooden table. They sat around it, Dumbledore again at the head. "You are considering becoming members?" He questioned.
"Uh, yes, absolutely, Professor Dumbledore." James stuttered, the others nodding solemnly in agreement.
"That's good. Very good." Dumbledore gave a smile and nodded his head slightly. "Now, as new members, you'll not be going on any mission." Sirius made a small sound of protest. "Yes, Mr Black, quite unfortunate, I agree. But, first you'll need to be assessed and evaluated by a senior member. And, if you are suited to participate in missions, you will then be assigned a senior member of the Order as your partner and given missions accordingly."
"And if we aren't suited?" Remus asked quietly.
"Then there are plenty of positions able to be filled outside of field action. But I have no doubt in you five." Dumbledore finished softly, giving an uncertain look towards Peter who nervously sat off to the side. "But, not to worry, you will be contacted sometime next week with the details of your assessment."
"I apologise, I've yet to thank you for agreeing to join the Order." A grateful smile lifted his wary, wizened features.
"It's just…our duty, Professor." Sirius said quietly with uncharacteristic seriousness.
"I know this is a fact, that there are not many people your age that would willingly fight in a war." Dumbledore said earnestly. "So, I thank you. Now, off you pop!" He said light-heartedly. "If I am not mistaken, Mr and Mrs Potter, you have a young daughter to attend to?" Lily and James smiled brightly as they all stood.
"Yeah, Laurel, she's just five months." James interjected proudly. Dumbledore looked at him with nostalgia.
"Ah, the innocence of a child. Nothing is quite so pure." He tapered off. The five friends made their way past Dumbledore who remained pondering at the table, and one by one they stood in the brilliant green flames and threw Floo powder down. The last to go, James, shouted, "Potter Cottage", and he left with a twist in his step.
