Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Harry Potter universe, other than this storyline.
"This is fucking ridiculous," Remus grumbled, as a frantic Lily pushed him out of his bed, "It's half three in the morning."
"That's the brilliance of it!" Lily squeaked excitedly, trying to shake Peter awake for the fourth time. James and Sirius were preparing five coffees, "Nobody's going to suspect anything at half three in the morning. It's much more secretive and mysterious this way," she said, shoving Peter again. The blond boy snorted, rolling away from her pesky little hands. Lily huffed irritably, "Wake him up, will you?" she said to Remus, who snorted, walking at a lethargic pace to his trunk to pull out some muggle clothing.
"Wake him up yourself," he grumbled, and James snorted, walking into the room with three thermoses, handing one to Lily and the other to Remus.
"We should have just left without them," he said, and Remus threw him a snarky look, pulling on his trainers as Sirius sauntered into the room. His dark eyes fell on Peter, still fast asleep.
"Accio blanket," Sirius said, pointing his wand at Peter, and the blond boy squawked as he was hit with the cold air, sitting up quickly to see his friends fully dressed.
"Wuzgoinon?" he mumbled, voice thick with sleep, as he rubbed at his blue eyes, "What time is it?"
"Half three," Remus said bitterly, and Lily rolled her eyes as James smirked at his friend.
"Don't come to the Order meeting then, mate," Sirius shrugged, crossing his arms and starting to tap one foot impatiently, watching as Peter's eyes widened and he near threw himself towards his trunk.
The Muggle street was dimly lit, the pavements glistening as the chilly drizzle fell, slapping at the road. The rain felt like icy shards piercing their skin, as they stumbled, half blinded by the wind, to a shabby building at the top of the road.
"Why isn't it better protected? Anyone can see it," Remus hissed, ducking his head against the raging wind.
"It's because we know the address, dipshit," Sirius growled back, as they finally turned into the small driveway. Lily danced to the wooden door and knocked, the sound barely audible over the screams of the wind. Her hair was plastered to her neck and shoulders, eyes squinted against the aggressive rain.
It was pulled open by a large man, thrice the size of any regular man, and Lily let out a squeal, eyes lighting up as she took in the bushy beard and kind beetle like eyes.
"Hagrid!"
"Hullo yeh lot," Hagrid chuckled, patting Sirius on the back as he walked in behind James, causing the boy to stumble forwards. A chuckling Remus reached forwards and snagged the back of Sirius' shirt, stopping him from falling flat onto his face, "Come in, come in, yeh're just in time, Dumbledore's 'bout to arrive."
The house was incredibly well polished on the inside, cream walls making the place feel cozy despite the pattering of rain drops against the windows and the light rattling of the wind on the windows. Bronze brackets on the walls held candles, giving a mysterious and downright magical feel to the place. There was no furniture in the front room. Hagrid led them down the corridor to a door on the right, through which the whispering of voices sounded, as though hundreds were gathered.
Lily looked up at James and squeezed his hand, and he grinned down at her, allowing her to pull him faster, to keep up with Hagrid. The other three quickened their pace to keep up with them, Peter wringing his hands nervously as he took in his surroundings. They turned into the room and found that there were not a hundred, but at least thirty others in the room, most of whom didn't acknowledge the arrival of more teenagers. Many were closer to their own, however, and eyed them with interest. James noticed a particular set of twins, their dark brown hair mingling as they whispered to each other about the new arrivals. The burlier of the twins noticed his attention, and winked at him, tipping an invisible hat, while the other motioned for them to come over.
"James Potter," he said, approaching the twins and holding his hand out. They grinned identically, before both reaching forwards as well, taking it in turns to shake his hand, as well as the other fours. James made it a point to hold tightly onto Lily's hand, making sure the message went across. Lily, realizing what James was doing, shot him an amused look, but didn't object otherwise, politely greeting the twins.
"Gideon Prewett," the burlier one said, shaking Sirius' hand.
"Fabian," the other called, from where he was clapping Peter on the back, "first timers?"
"We weren't thrilled about the timing the first time either," Gideon said, smirking as Remus yawned widely, earning an exasperated smack in the arm from Lily.
"Is it always in the middle of the night?" Lily asked, and the twins nodded.
"Makes it much more discreet, Death Eaters probably expect all of us goody goody's to sleep at night," Fabian said, and Gideon smirked.
"Only when we're unlucky," he said, winking at a pretty young woman across the room, who simply rolled her eyes and turned away. Sirius sniggered at the innuendo as James smirked at Lily's mildly scandalized expression, "my girlfriend," he said to James, "she's rather cross with me at the moment though."
"Why?" Remus snorted.
"Well, let's just say one of us is far more adventurous than the other," he replied, "sexually," he added, noting Peter's slightly confused expression, which quickly morphed into one of embarrassment, "Excuse me for keeping things interesting," Gideon shrugged, before winking at Lily.
"On that lovely note, I think I've just spotted a friend," Lily said, her voice shaking with suppressed laughter as she turned in the direction of Alice, who had just walked through the door, hand in hand with Frank Longbottom.
"Lily?" Alice squeaked, running over to her fiery haired friend, who caught her in a sisterly embrace, "Oh thank Merlin, I was terrified we wouldn't know anyone here," she said, clucking her tongue as she motioned for Frank to follow. Frank grinned at Lily and pecked her quickly on the cheek, before standing up and putting his arm around Alice's waist, a boyish smile on his face.
"That is what you were terrified of? Get your priorities straight sis," Fabian snickered, and Alice threw him a scathing look as Frank smirked.
"You're related?" Remus asked, and Alice rolled her eyes.
"Unfortunately," she said, and the twins pouted at her, "at least it's distant," she said, and Gideon snickered.
"We decided to reconnect the family when Dumby set this up last year," Fabian explained to Peter, who smirked as Alice rolled her eyes.
"Lily, honestly, you've been reduced to spending time with my lunatic cousins," she said, and the boys gasped once more, "come sit with me, let the boys have man time," she said, and Lily threw a grin at James, who winked back as Alice dragged her to a seat.
"You didn't tell me you were part of the Order," Lily said in an accusatory tone, quirking a brow at her best friend as they sat down on a small settee, crossing her legs as she watched the boys chatter.
"I couldn't Lily, I'm not Secret Keeper, I would've had my tongue cut off!" Alice gasped, and Lily rolled her eyes as her friend grinned at her, Alice's chocolate brown eyes twinkling with humour, "What would I do without my tongue Lily? It would make snogging so much more difficult!"
"You wouldn't sacrifice your tongue for our friendship?" Lily sniffed, and Alice laughed, leaning her head on Lily's shoulder as the redhead giggled.
"Give up snogging Potter and we'll talk."
"I don't mean to interrupt," an amused voice said from beside them, and they turned to see Fleamont Potter smiling down at them, "Fleamont Potter," he said, reaching out to shake Alice's hand as Lily laughed at her frightened expression.
"This is my friend Alice Prewett," Lily said, "Alice, this is James' father." Alice shook Fleamonts hand dumbly as the boys made their way over, James having spotted his father.
"What are you doing here?" James asked, and Fleamont smiled at the mildly outraged expression on his son's face.
"Your mother is asleep, I'll be heading back there after this meeting," he said, and James nodded, eyes losing their edge as Fleamont clapped him on the shoulder. Just then a hush fell about the room and Dumbledore walked in, a small smile on his face as he took in the familiar faces.
"Please, be seated," Dumbledore said, waving his wand to create more chairs than necessary, "to our older members, welcome back, to our newer, welcome," he said, smiling as his eyes skimmed to Lily and the Marauders, "to the Order of the Phoenix."
"Our goal is to do whatever we can to fight against the darkness that has entered our lives. By this I, of course, mean the threat presented by a man who calls himself Lord Voldemort," he said, and Lily noticed James straighten slightly, paying rapt attention, "Before we do anything further, however, I would like us to take a moment to mourn the loss of the innocent lives we lost earlier today, during a vicious attack in Central London."
The room filled with silence, broken by a few sniffs from an old man across the room.
"This tragedy brought about the loss of a few of our own, and I would like to take a short moment to honour the lives of Ms. Deirdre Miller, daughter of Mr. Alexander Murchison, her husband, a lovely muggle by the name of Mr. Jackson Miller, and a very dear friend of mine, Alphard Gudgeon," Dumbledore said, and the sniffing old man let out a small sob, shaking his head, "she fought against the Death Eaters valiantly, and her husband bravely rescued a few muggles before he was struck by falling debris. Alphard was a great Auror, who took down and helped us arrest no less than twenty five of Voldemorts supporters in his time. A moment of silence to honour these two, and all the other nameless victims, please."
James was shaking slightly as he looked at his father, who bowed his head sadly. He felt Lily's small hand slip into his own, and looked at her to see her eyes glassed over slightly.
"Thank you," Dumbledore said gently, his piercing blue eyes, wet with unshed tears, travelling to rest on Mr. Murchison, who had now given up on keeping his mourning quiet, "As you know, we cannot keep these meetings very long, therefore I will get to the point quickly. First, I would like to let you all know that I have discussed with our Minister for Magic the need to alert the Muggle Prime Minister of Voldemort's existence and schemes. He is yet to schedule a meeting, but did agree to do so," he said.
"Fucking finally," Gideon grumbled loudly, earning a smack from the girl Lily recognized to be his girlfriend. Sirius snickered, and Fleamont shot him a mildly chastising look, an amused smirk on his own face.
"I do in fact agree with your assessment, Mr. Prewett," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as Gideon smirked down at the girl, "On to more important matters, I have it on good authority that Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are too having a meeting tonight."
"Shouldn't we try to spy?" a young man across the room called, and Dumbledore shook his head somberly.
"I am afraid the time of spying on their get together's has past, Mr. MacMillan," he said, "It seems they have become aware, following the last time we had spies visit them, and have too entrusted in protective charms," he said. A collective groan sounded around the room, and Frank swore under his breath.
"So how are we going to anticipate attacks?" a woman called.
"We cannot," Dumbledore said simply, "We must simply be prepared and respond as quickly as possible to any attacks. It is our only option."
"What if we sent in a spy?"
"Are you suggesting I ask one of our members to become a Death Eater?" Dumbledore asked calmly, and the woman shrunk slightly at his chastising tone, "I apologize, Marjorie, but I cannot allow members of our own to damage their souls by initiating as Death Eaters. The acts they would have to perform, the people they would have to hurt…" Dumbledore trailed off, his eyes closing as he shook his head slightly, "I simply cannot allow it."
"Dumbledore, if I may," a feminine voice said, and they turned collectively to look at a small dark-skinned young woman seated at the back, "perhaps the time has come for us to consider ending Voldemort himself?"
"Do not fret, Beatrice, I already have a team instructed to find his weaknesses," Dumbledore said kindly, and the young woman nodded. Lily felt her face flush as Dumbledore's eyes landed on her for a quick second, the importance of their task becoming instantly much clearer, "Any other matters?"
"I heard somewhere that the Death Eaters were targeting Hogwarts," Fabian said, and Dumbledore smiled serenely at him as Lily's heart thudded.
"As long as I am there, Mr. Prewett, no harm will come to Hogwarts."
"That was the most useless fucking meeting I have ever attended," Remus grumbled, throwing himself onto his single bed.
"Are you mad?" James scoffed, "How was it useless? It was the most information we've ever gotten on Voldemort. The Ministry's been infiltrated, you prick. The Orders the only real hope."
"But I'm sleepy," Remus mumbled, quietly enough so James wouldn't hear him. Sirius heard, however, and smirked, tossing the dirty socks he was removing from his feet at him.
Lily rolled her eyes at their interaction, allowing Peter to push past her to lie on his own bed, before heading to the bedroom she shared with James. It was now nearing six in the morning, too late for them to fall asleep, but too early to do anything else. The sun had risen, casting bright light into Sirius' little flat, making it near impossible for them to even consider sleep.
"I'm off to bed as well," Sirius yawned, kicking Remus' bedframe, causing the boy to growl in protest, "Good night children."
"Padfoot, have you got a minute?" James said quietly, and Sirius quirked a brow, before following James into his bedroom. The door to Lily and James' room was shut, and James tiptoed by it before entering Sirius', "I need your help with something."
"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked, watching with a quirked brow as an unnaturally jittery James paced in his bedroom.
"It's about Lily."
"What about her?" Sirius sighed, falling onto his unmade bed, knowing any conversation about Lily was sure to take far too much time and would ultimately be pointless, "If this is another rant about you being insecure about her feelings for you, or some similar rubbish, I really don't have-"
"I'm going to propose to her," James said quickly, lips twitching with amusement as Sirius shot up like a bullet, hair, for once, disheveled, as he looked at James with shocked eyes, his mouth open in shock.
"You're going to what?
"Are you deaf?" James snickered, and Sirius ignored him, scrambling out of bed to pace the room himself, ignoring the amused look James was shooting at him.
"Are you serious?" Sirius gasped, stopping in front of James, "I mean, are you sure? She's the one?" he asked, and James beamed at him. His best friends happiness became too much for him, and unable to remain rational any longer, he grinned back, "You're really doing this, aren't you?"
"I really am," James said, eyes shining with happiness, and Sirius grinned once more, clapping James on the shoulder.
"Congratulations mate, I'm happy for you," he said sincerely, genuinely happy for the boy, "How are you going to do it? When?"
"Now that is why I want to talk to you," James said, and Sirius' expression fell comically.
"Now? You want to talk about this now? I've not slept," Sirius whined, and James beamed, ruffling his friends hair, causing the dog to squawk.
"Such behavior is not becoming of a best man, Padfoot," James said, and Sirius froze, turning his head to meet a smirking James' eye.
"Seriously?"
"No-one more Sirius for the job," James said, snickering to himself as Sirius rolled his eyes, groaning as he ran his hand down his face
"I don't want to do it, I'll have to make too many stupid puns in the speech, it's not worth it," Sirius said.
"Fine, I'll ask Moony then," James shrugged, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "He did give me some pretty fantastic ideas the other day about string quartets and pixies sprinkling glitter-"
"Shut up you ponce, give it to Moony and I'll castrate you," Sirius said, pouting as he sat down on the edge of the bed, and James sniggered, clapping Sirius on the shoulder.
"Excellent choice mate, now, about this proposal-" Sirius groaned, flopping backwards so he was lying on the bed, knowing James was going to run through the hundreds of ideas he'd had about proposing to Lily for at least an hour, and then panic about proposing to Lily for at least another one, and it would be eight in the morning before he could realistically go to sleep. Watching James chatter excitedly about venues and what he would say, though, brought a small grin to Sirius' face nevertheless.
When Lily woke up, it was to find herself alone in an empty bed, in an empty room. The sound of voices wasn't filtering in through the door, suggesting that the boys were asleep still. The clock James had put up in their room told her it was nearing midday, which meant she'd had about six hours of sleep. Her head ached as she rose from the bed, throwing her dressing gown over James' Quidditch jersey, before running her hands through her hair, attempting for some semblance of decency, before opening the door quietly.
Remus and Peter were fast asleep, Remus' head buried underneath his pillow to avoid the light streaming in through a crack in the curtain. Lily giggled slightly as Peter groaned, bringing his knees into his stomach so his arse stuck up in the air. Sirius' door was still closed, so she wandered into the kitchen, looking for James. He wasn't in there either.
She was sure he would have left her a note if he had gone to St. Mungos, so she turned around, searching the small flat once more in the case that she had missed him, hidden underneath a bed or something similarly ludicrous. She checked underneath the bed in their shared bedroom (he was not there), before tiptoeing to the bathroom between theirs and Sirius' room (also empty). She slowly cracked open the door of Sirius' room, to see James and Sirius, facing each other, asleep.
Grinning, she shut the door, anticipating the moment they woke up to find their faces inches apart. She grabbed a few of the books Remus had stolen from the living rom, before settling herself on her bed, opening it up to a page on defensive charms, finding herself instantly caught up. She was ashamed of her own swottiness, admittedly, as she sat there for at least an hour, reading about the intricacies of the bubble headed charm, and how, in theory, with extreme skill and precision, by rotating the wand twelve degrees to the right while casting the charm could extend it to encompass the whole body. Lily's brain began to wander, and she imagined if Protego could do the same thing, if twisting the wand a certain way would turn it into the body armor Remus had been talking about. She flipped the book to the index, looking through it for the word 'armour'.
She was so absorbed that she let out a small scream when there was a knocking on the small window in the bedroom, jerking her out of her studious reverie. She looked up, noticing a foreign owl hovering outside, holding a fat green envelope. Frowning slightly, she approached the window cautiously, letting the owl in and taking the envelope before it flew off. She sat back down on the bed, opening the envelope carefully, her heart thudding quite fast as she recognized the emblem on the wax seal.
Dear Ms. Lily Evans,
We would like to offer you our congratulations at being accepted into the St. Mungo's Healer Training Program.
The program shall be commencing in two weeks time, on the 6th of July, please be sure to arrive in the St. Mungo's reception at 9:30am. We shall commence by examining your wand, so please be sure it is in proper working condition.
We look forward to meeting you.
Hoping this letter finds you well,
Armando Smethywick
St. Mungos Recruitment Officer
St. Mungos Hospital
Lily sat, frozen in shock as her eyes scanned the letter once more, twice more, three more times, before jumping to her feet. Before she knew what she was doing, she had barged into Sirius' room, the door slamming so loud the two boys sat up in alarm, and jumped onto the bed, jumping up and down, squealing like a mad person. Sirius fell off the bed as she jumped too close to him, and glared up at her.
"What? What's wrong?" James asked, alarmed, as he stood up, looking up at Lily with a worried expression. Upon seeing the glee on her face, he visibly relaxed, shaking his head and crossing his arms, keeping his hazel eyes trained on her as she grinned down at him, still jumping up and down like a child, "If you keep jumping like that you're going to hurt yourself," he said sternly, and Lily laughed, jumping off the bed onto the floor in front of him, beaming up at him.
"Thanks," Sirius grumbled, picking himself off the floor and flopping back onto the bed, "Some of us were sleeping quite serenely, thanks."
"If that's what you call snoring like a foghorn, I agree," Lily quipped, and Sirius snorted loudly.
"I don't snore-"
"Well how would you know-"
"How would you know-"
"Enough," James said, putting his hand underneath Lily's chin and angling her face back up to his, his twinkling eyes betraying his otherwise stern demeanor, "What happened?" he asked, and Lily beamed again.
"Look James," she thrust the parchment into his abdomen, and he reached his hand up to grab it, "I sent it ages ago and they only just replied, literally like five minutes ago, and I can't believe it, oh James!" she squealed excitedly, throwing her arms around his neck before he could even read the parchment. He laughed and hugged her back.
"Lily, how am I supposed to read it if you're squashing it between us?"
"Yeah, stop behaving like a bloody child," Sirius said, grinning up at them from where he was lying on his stomach. Lily turned around and stuck her tongue out at Sirius, who barked a laugh, giving James the opportunity to extract the parchment and scan it.
"Oh my Merlin," James breathed, looking back up at Lily, who beamed at him as a grin grew on his face, "Lily!" he laughed, wrapping his arms around her middle and swinging her around in a circle, causing her to squeal happily as she clutched onto his wide shoulders, "It's so exclusive, you brilliant crazy nutcase of a woman," he laughed, leaning up to drop kisses all over her face, and she laughed, pressing her mouth firmly to his.
"This is disgusting, can you please do this elsewhere?" Sirius grumbled, dropping his face into the mattress, ears turning red as tongues very obviously became involved.
"Sirius! Sirius look!" Lily giggled, crawling next to him and shoving the parchment into his hands. Sirius turned his head, opening a bleary, bloodshot eye and giving her an irritated look.
"I have had almost no sleep Evans, don't test me," he said, noticing how James was alternating between grinning down at the parchment and Lily. Lily pouted at him and he groaned, pushing himself up and snatching the parchment from her hand. His eyes scanned it before snapping up to her face, alight with happiness as he beamed at her, "Hey! Way to go mate," he laughed, pulling her into a bone crushing hug, "You've wanted this for how long?"
"One year, three months and six days, but who's counting?" she replied cheekily, eyes twinkling, as Sirius threw his head back and laughed.
"This is absolutely brilliant, I am so happy for you love," James grinned, leaning down to ruffle her hair proudly, "I think this calls for lots of treacle tart," he said, and Lily giggled, nodding her head happily as she looked back down at the parchment.
"I'll go get it, I'm going to pop home to mum and dad to show them," she said, clambering off the bed and kissing James once more.
"We're supposed to be in Spain somewhere," James reminded her, and Lily shrugged.
"It starts in two weeks, I'd have to move back anyway," she said, and he grinned.
"Okay little miss Healer," he laughed, twisting her and nudging her towards the doorway, "hurry up would you? I'm craving some treacle tart."
"Bastard, I knew it was a selfish request," Lily scoffed, throwing him a wink over her shoulder as she made to close Sirius' bedroom door behind her, "While I'm gone you two can discuss how close together you were sleeping, and whether or not you need to discuss anything with me," she added, and the boys squawked, exchanging outraged looks.
"We were not-"
"Why did you have to stay in my-"
"Don't flatter yourself, Padfoot-"
"Ta!" Lily called, shutting the door with a wicked grin on her face as the boys continued to bicker. James stormed out of the room a few seconds after her to pull her into a quick kiss, and telling her to come straight to Mungos after her parents', before she left.
"Darling!" Euphemia cried as James walked into the ward, closely followed by Sirius. Remus and Peter were still at the flat, the latter still asleep, Remus was going to follow them when the boy had finally woken up.
"How are you feeling?" James asked, kissing his mother on the forehead and taking her hand in both of his, "Did Dad take good care of you?"
"He did his best," Euphemia laughed, throwing a loving smile at Fleamont, who was morosely lounging on the sofa. Sirius sniggered and sat down next to him.
"She's still alive, isn't she?" Fleamont joked, and Euphemia laughed as James threw his father a sardonic look.
"How's your back?" James asked, and Fleamont sent him a scathing look as Euphemia rolled her eyes.
"It is fine," he replied, enunciating each word, and Euphemia scoffed.
"He hasn't gotten off that settee," she said to James, who grinned down at his mother's annoyed expression, "Did I tell him not to sleep on that wretched thing? Yes, yes I did. Did he listen? No, of course he did not!"
"Why didn't you transfigure it?" Sirius asked, and Fleamont threw him an irritated look as Euphemia grinned at her adopted son.
"Oh Sirius, my dear, if only you had been here earlier when Fleamont had momentarily forgotten how to do so," she said happily, and the two boys burst out laughing at Fleamont's outraged expression.
"I am sixty four years old, if I was still spending my time transfiguring objects into beds I would have to seriously reconsider my lifestyle choices," he argued, and James sniggered.
"Leave Dad alone Mum, you know how he gets," he stage-whispered to Euphemia, who smiled at her offended husband.
"Will you at least be on my side?" Fleamont asked Sirius, whose amused gaze flickered back to Euphemia, "Keep in mind I put a roof over your head," he said, and Sirius barked a laugh as Euphemia shot her husband a warning look.
"Fleamont Potter, do not suggest having Sirius in our house was a burden. It has been a lovely gift, my dear," she said to Sirius, who smirked as Fleamont spluttered.
"I said no such thing!"
"Hush," Euphemia said, gazing lovingly up at her laughing son, "How are you my dear? Did you both enjoy your first meeting?"
"I feel enjoy is poor word choice," Sirius said, brushing his long hair out of his eyes.
"It was interesting," James agreed, the two exchanged a smirk.
"What's much more interesting and worthy of discussion, however, is your sons method of proposing to his girlfriend," Sirius said, and his parents grinned at James, who turned red.
"Padfoot, what is your problem-"
"Now James dear," Euphemia cut in, and James threw Sirius a scathing look as the boy simply smirked back at him, unfazed by the murderous glint in his friends' eyes. He had been of no help as James ranted about his methods of proposal, having suggested he simply ask mid-shag, because nothing could be more romantic or passionate, earning a few well aimed jinxes, "have you thought at all about how you're going to-"
"LILY!" Sirius yelled, cutting off Euphemia as Lily approached their ward. She jumped so violently she almost dropped the box of treacle tarts she was holding, and narrowed her eyes at Sirius.
"You didn't have to bloody yell Sirius, I almost had a heart attack," Lily hissed, ducking her head in embarrassment as a few Healers turned their heads to see who 'Lily' was.
"She has to work here, dipshit, don't embarrass her," James snickered, earning a smack in the arm from Euphemia.
"Language."
"Sorry mum," James grinned, and the old woman gave him one last stern glance before turning to Lily with a wide smile.
"Oh Lily dear, you got accepted into the Healer program?" Lily nodded shyly, smiling at Euphemia, who clapped her hands, "Congratulations darling! Come here so I can give you a proper hug!" James flushed as Sirius nudged at his leg, aiming a kick back at Sirius, who lazily pulled his leg out of the way in time.
"Hearty congratulations, Lily. It's a very difficult program to get accepted into, only a handful of trainees a year, I hear," Fleamont said, and Lily smiled at him before handing the box of treacle tarts to James.
"Hearty congratulations?" James sneered, "Who even says that anymore?"
"Your father," Fleamont retorted, and James snorted as Lily and Sirius laughed.
"Makes you sound at least a hundred," James muttered, opening the box and handing treacle tarts out to everyone else.
"He's not far off," Euphemia said jovially, picking at her treacle tart.
"I am one year older than you."
"And you best not forget it," she replied, and Fleamont grumbled to himself, taking a large bite of his tart as the others snickered.
"How did the muggles take it?" Sirius asked, and Lily shot him an amused look.
"I don't know, but my parents were very happy," she shot back, and Sirius smirked up at her as James snorted, grabbing another treacle tart.
"Do you know who your supervisor is?" Fleamont asked, and Lily shook her head, eyes wandering around the room as if a Healer would loudly mention that they happened to be supervising a young redhead named Lily Evans, "Ah not to worry, Healers are usually very pleasant people."
"They are?" Lily asked, biting her lip as she continued to scan the room, her tone betraying her worry, and James rolled his eyes as Sirius smirked at her.
"Oh yes, my dear, I'll introduce you to my Healers when they come check up on me, if you'd like," Euphemia said, smiling as Lily wrung her hands.
"You weren't this nervous an hour ago," Sirius sniggered, and Lily huffed.
"I wasn't inside St. Mungo's an hour ago, you twit," she grumbled, and James laughed, "Oh shut it, you," she huffed, lips twitching up into a telling smile as James continued to laugh at her.
"I can't help it love, you're far too entertaining," James snickered, and Lily narrowed her eyes at him.
"I caught James and Sirius in bed together," she said, not breaking eye contact with James, whose eyes momentarily betrayed his shock before becoming amused once again. Sirius snorted loudly, as Euphemia and Fleamont exchanged an alarmed look.
"You did what?" a choked voice said from the doorway, and they turned to find Remus and Peter standing there, Remus looking incredibly amused and Peter looking much more confused.
"Remus! Peter!" Euphemia said happily, and the two boys quickly greeted her, "It's so lovely to see you two," she smiled, and the two flushed slightly under her admiring gaze. James smirked at their discomfort.
"I'm sorry, let's backtrack for a moment, if you please. Something you boys want to tell us?" Fleamont asked Sirius, who snorted, and gently shoved Fleamont in the shoulder as James rolled his eyes.
"Oh yes, madly in love," James deadpanned, and Euphemia gasped.
"I knew it!"
"Mum!"
"Yes Prongs, it sounds great, it's a fucking fabulous idea, doves will shit rainbows and pixies will fly out of your arse because of how beautiful it is," Sirius groaned, sipping on the muggle beer Lily had bought from a muggle supermarket down the street from the Leaky.
"Beautiful use of imagery, Padfoot," Remus snorted, sipping on his own bottle, "I can practically see doves flying out of Prongs' arse."
"I said pixies, you dumb fuck," Sirius sniggered, finishing his eighth bottle and throwing it towards the stupid recycling bin Remus had bought at the muggle store with Lily. The bottle hit the rim and bounced onto the floor.
"Mistaking doves with pixies doesn't make me a dumb fuck," Remus huffed, throwing his own bottle at the bin and missing as well.
"Either way, neither pixies nor doves are likely to fly out of Prongs' arse crack," Peter sniggered, and James snorted in agreement, "I think it sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah?" James said hopefully, "I think she'll like it. She bloody loves lilies, ironically enough, and I thought if I took her to that garden by my parents place-"
"Bloody yes Prongs, like I said, farting pixies and shitting rainbows and all that, maybe she'll even shag you on a bed of roses," Sirius huffed, opening another bottle, and Remus snickered as James threw him a glare
"I've already told you it's a garden exclusively of lilies-"
"Fine mate, she'll shag you on a bed of lilies then."
"You can't really shag someone on a bed of lilies. In it, maybe," Remus reasoned, and Sirius looked at him with disbelief.
"Did you seriously just fucking say that?"
"He gets so cranky on alcohol," James grumbled, throwing his empty bottle at the bin and missing as well, "What the fuck is wrong with the damn bin?"
"It's a recycling bin. Everything, is your answer," Sirius snorted, and Remus glared at him.
"There's nothing wrong with recycling you bastard-"
"Yes, yes, environment, hug a Hufflepuff, ride a Ravenclaw, all that nonsense," Sirius grumbled, and James and Peter laughed as Remus threw Sirius a scandalized look.
"What does hugging a Hufflepuff and riding a Ravenclaw have to do with anything?" he squawked, and Sirius shrugged.
"Charity," Sirius said, looking as if he genuinely believed what he was saying as he took another swig, and Remus spluttered as the other two laughed harder.
"You better be glad Lily isn't here to hear you say that," Remus grumbled, and Sirius guffawed.
"I'm not scared of her."
"Okay," James chuckled, taking another swig, "I've never seen anyone cower under her gaze so much."
"Have you looked in a mirror?" Sirius retorted, "I'm craving a fucking fag."
"No," Remus groaned, shaking his head, "Lily will destroy you. You know how she is about smoking."
"It's my flat! She has no control over me!"
"Whatever you say," James snorted, and Sirius threw him a scathing look.
"I reiterate, I'm not as bad as you."
"Actually, James doesn't cower before Lily anymore, just snogs her to shut her up," Peter said, and James preened at Sirius, who scoffed.
"He does when she's furious," Remus pitched in, and James smirked.
"Who doesn't?"
"Prongs has a point," Sirius snorted, watching as Remus once more missed the recycling bin, "we're all fucking useless, how has no-one got it in there yet?"
"Peter hasn't tried yet," Remus said, and Sirius snorted.
"No offense mate, but you have the worst aim I've ever seen," Sirius sniggered, and James rolled his eyes, smirking behind the rim of his bottle as Peter squared his shoulders.
"Aim for Moony, you might get it in," James said, smirking to himself, and Sirius snickered, his laughter becoming more extreme as Peter flipped them off. Remus was sitting the furthest away from the bin.
"If I get it in, you have to stop talking about your bloody proposal. I can't take it anymore," Peter said, and James threw him a sardonic look as the other two laughed.
"I'm rooting for you mate," Sirius sniggered, and Remus snorted.
"Yes! Please mate, for all of our sanity."
Peter threw the bottle at the bin. The boys watched eagerly, Sirius rising to his feet in anticipation, as it balanced on the rim for a split second, before tipping in. The boys let out a loud cheer, James laughing as the other three performed a celebratory jig.
"Fine, we'll talk about something else," James snorted, putting his feet up on the table and crossing his ankles.
"How about getting a fucking move on with this quest?" Sirius snorted, and James quirked a brow at him.
"Quest?"
"Yes, the horcrux hunt."
"I know what you meant," James smirked, swigging his beer, "I was just questioning your use of the word 'quest'."
"Sod off Prongs," Sirius guffawed, shoving his friend as Remus and Peter sniggered.
"And you had so much potential," James sighed dramatically, winking at Sirius, who snorted once more, downing the rest of his beer and chucking the bottle at the bin, missing once more.
"This fucking bin!"
Lily returned later that evening to see the four of them standing on the other side of the flat, chucking empty bottles at the recycling bin, and summoning them back to see if they could make it once more.
"What is happening?" she laughed, watching as Remus made a particularly impressive shot from where he was crouched behind one of the beds, which had been turned onto its' side to create what she could only assume to be a fort.
"The fucking bin has win enough times, Evans, it can't win anymore," Sirius declared, obviously smashed, his eyes bloodshot and unfocused as he threw a bottle with all his might at the bin, hitting the wall and causing it to shatter instead. Lily rolled her eyes and waved her wand, vanishing the glass so none of the drunkards could get hurt.
"The bin is inanimate, Sirius," Lily sighed, giggling as James swung a bottle at the bin, hitting the rim, and swearing loudly, kicking at the frame of Remus' small bed, "Are you all smashed?" she asked weakly, feeling her question was incredibly unnecessary given the state of them; Sirius was attempting to stand straight, instead swaying at quite alarming angles; Peter was sitting on the floor giggling at the inside of a shoe; Remus was crouched behind his fort, peeking over occasionally to glare at the bin before ducking back down; and James was mouthing off quite fantastically, swinging a bottle and looking at the bin with a look of utmost concentration on his face.
"I haven't got it in even fucking once Lil-bit," James slurred, swinging his arm again and shooting the bottle at the bin. It smashed on the floor in front of the bin, and Lily vanished the shards once more, sighing as she watched James stumble over to her, "Did you-you have fun with your par-rents?" James asked, and Lily laughed, brushing his hair back off his forehead.
"I did, mum wants you to visit her," she replied, and James beamed happily.
"Here Lil-bit, you try," James said, handing her the empty bottle, and Lily rolled her eyes, tossing it into the bin with ease, "Whoa! You're a natural!"
"I'm also sober," Lily chuckled, "Go have fun, I'll make sure nobody dies," she giggled and, patting James on the cheek, pulled up a chair so she could mediate this nonsense, watching amusedly as James declared her the supreme ruler of all things bin related and Sirius grabbed an umbrella to knight her, while Remus continued to cower behind his fort, waving his wand nonsensically and making it snow, and Peter eventually passed out with his nose in the shoe.
James and Sirius returned to St. Mungos' for the entirety of the next few days, returning to the flat only to sleep, as Euphemia would be undergoing a series of tests to determine when she would be able to go home, and whether she would need any more treatment. She had been taking two potions four times a day for her organs' recovery, and was making large strides day by day.
Remus had taken charge of organizing their trip to the orphanage, where Lily, himself and Peter would be going to following day. He had decided that wasting time was no longer an option, especially given the increased proclivity of attacks.
"What do I say if they ask me where I live?" Lily squeaked, beginning to panic slightly as she stared down at the list of things they needed to prepare for the next day, "Or what colour I was planning on painting the room? Merlin! What if they ask to arrange a house viewing prior to approving the adoption?"
"Calm down Lily, just tell them you're just looking for children, you haven't decided on one yet, or something," Peter said, sucking on a sugar quill as he wrote down the list of everything that needed to go in Lily's bag.
"It's not like adopting pets, Peter, these are children. Nobody chooses a child based on what agency he or she is from, it's not like you're inspecting diseased kennels," Lily snorted, and Peter smirked.
"Well, actually-"
"Don't do it," Remus chuckled, watching as Lily inflated angrily at Peter's mocking tone. Her hair had grown twice the volume as she had agitatedly run her hands through it hundreds of times over the last few hours, "If they ask you where you live, give them a random muggle address in London, you know a few street names. If they ask about the room, say you're going to ask the child and help it paint the room as a bonding activity. IF they ask to see your place, say you haven't moved in yet but would be glad to invite them over after the process is complete."
"Okay, yes, no, that's perfect, yes, I'll do that," Lily stuttered, writing all those points down on another piece of parchment. Remus snorted as Peter turned ot him, amazed.
"That was incredible Moony."
"I know, Lily came up with it yesterday."
"So," Lily said after a few moments of agitated scribbling, "we're going to leave here at approximately 10am, with my bag full of everything we need."
"You will transfigure your appearance before we leave," Remus said calmly, as if speaking to an agitated toddler mid-tantrum, "I will get under the invisibility cloak and hold Peter, who will be in his rat form, in my hand so that there are no slip ups with the cloak."
"Yes, good," Lily nodded, scratching the side of her face with the quill as her tired eyes scanned the parchments in front of her, "My name is Alison Darby and I am forty three years old. I was raised in Kent, and am moving into a flat in…"
"Why don't you pick the address now, so you don't freeze at the orphanage?" Peter suggested, and Lily nodded jerkily, taking a few deep breaths. Remus rolled his eyes, getting up to fix them all another mug of tea.
"Okay, Alison Darby is going to move to…Langside Avenue, in Putney," she said, and Remus cheered as Peter sniggered.
"House number?"
"Um…21?"
"21 Langside Avenue, perfect," Remus said, resisting a chuckle as Lily beamed to herself, writing the address down on her damn piece of parchment, "Is it a bungalow or a flat?"
"Er, bungalow?"
"Are you sure?" Peter asked, amused, as he grabbed a ginger newt and began nibbling on it.
"Yes! Yes of course I'm sure," Lily huffed, before predictably writing that small bit down on the parchment, "It'll have two floors, three bedrooms," she nodded, and the boys smirked. Remus opened his mouth to ask another question and Lily huffed, "It has a kitchen as well, open planned, a garden with a swing set and a comfortable living room with a television and two settees, that's painted fucking lilac to give the inhabitant a comfortable feeling, are you fucking happy now?" she hissed, and Remus grinned wolfishly as Peter sniggered.
"Ecstatic."
"Finally," Lily said, rubbing at her eyes, "Er, where was I?"
"Lilac walls," Peter snickered, and Lily shot him an annoyed look as Remus hid a smile by sipping his tea.
"Oh yes, I was moving to 21 Langside Avenue, which is still being done up so I can't move in yet."
"What's your job?" Remus asked, and Lily groaned, massaging her temples.
"I'll be a teacher," she grumbled, and Peter quirked a brow.
"Why?"
"Because my mother is so I can use the stories she keeps telling me in case someone asks," Lily said, and Remus laughed.
"Brilliant idea Lil."
"Yes, I know. Anyway, I'm a teacher and I want to adopt because I want a family. What kind of child do I want? Oh I don't fucking know, shall I say a young girl? Yes then nobody can accuse me of impure intentions."
"Impure intentions?" Remus wheezed, as Peter roared with laughter, and Lily flushed embarrassedly.
"You never know!" she squeaked, her face turning almost as dark a shade as her hair, and the boys laughed harder, Peter doubled over in his seat and Remus throwing his head back.
"What is all this noise? We could hear you down the fucking corridor." The door opened and Sirius walked in, looking bewildered, followed by a very irritable James.
"Lily thinks people think she has impure intentions towards young boys," Peter wheezed, and Lily flushed darkly as James and Sirius regarded her amusedly.
"Care to explain?" Sirius smirked, and Lily scowled at him.
"No thank you," she grumbled, gathering her pieces of parchment and turning to meet James' eye, "what's wrong?"
"Something's wrong?" Peter asked.
"How do you know something's wrong?" Remus chuckled. Lily ignored them both, instead looking at James, who was regarding his friends irritably.
"Nothing is wrong," Sirius chuckled, ruffling James' hair, "Someone's mummy is getting discharged and they're not very happy about it," he said, and James glared at him as Lily squealed excitedly, Remus and Peter both smiling genuinely at the news.
"That's wonderful!" Lily said happily, looking up at James, whose expression didn't seem to reflect her sentiment, "Why aren't you happy about this?"
"I just, I mean, what harm would come from her staying in hospital a few more days? Just to be safe?" he blustered, raising his arms in exasperation, "She's old, she can't just be running around after she almost bloody died-"
"James," Lily said gently, standing up and grabbing one of her boyfriends hands, not phased in the least as he pulled it away, "This is a good thing, it means she's better now-"
"Yes but this is my mum we're talking about Lily. Merlin knows the second she gets home she's going to respond to every fucking Auror alert they send and she's going to go out there and start fighting while she's still sick-"
"We have both met your father, James," Lily said gently, not noticing as the other three boys slunk into the kitchen to avoid the potential James explosion, preparing herself for the outburst she could see growing in James' eyes, "He's not going to let Euphemia leave the house until she's at least 200%. Maybe 300, if she's lucky," she said, chancing a small smile, and James crossed his arms, glaring down at her.
"This isn't a fucking joke Lily. This is my mother's life and she's going to fucking do something stupid and then what am I going to do? What is my dad going to do? You fucking saw him at St. Mungo's that day."
"James, she-"
"SHE GOT HERSELF INTO THIS POSITION, SHE COULD HAVE FUCKIGN DIED AND NOW SHE'S JUST BEING RELEASED AFTER ALL THAT WE WENT THROUGH AND-"
Lily cut James off by placing her hand over his mouth, watching as tears began to roll down his cheeks. The fire in his eyes dimmed slightly as he met her eyes, and she let out a small breath of relief, "James," she said gently, and he closed his eyes, tears starting to roll faster, "I know you're scared," she continued, treading carefully, "You're right, she does act faster than she thinks sometimes, but she has you, and she has your father, and between the two of you, she's not going to be fighting alone for a very long time," Lily said, and James opened his watery eyes, his bright hazel irises meeting her emerald ones as he raised a hand to pull her hand away from his mouth, keeping it prisoner in her own.
"What if something happened to you?" James asked quietly, his voice raspy from the lump in his throat, and Lily's face softened, her other hand reaching up to cup his cheek, "I couldn't live with myself if-"
"You're working yourself up for nothing," Lily said kindly, "I'm fine, your mother is fine, and though I can't make any promises, I know you won't let anything happen to me," she smiled, and James sighed, dropping his forehead so it was resting against hers, closing his eyes to absorb the feel of her, "Be happy that your mother is being released, it means she miraculously recovered from that horrible curse. She's stronger than you're giving her credit for."
"I know," James whispered, "I just worry about them. They're so old-"
"That doesn't make them weak James. They'd kick our butts if they had the chance," she joked, and James chuckled, opening his eyes to meet hers.
"You promise you won't leave me?"
"I promise, I will let you die first," Lily giggled, and James rolled his eyes, lips twitching up at the corners, unable to fight off the contagious smile. He pressed his lips gently to hers, pulled away and sighed quietly.
"I should probably apologize to the lads."
"No apologies necessary mate," Sirius said jovially, walking back into the room and clapping James on the back. James groaned and lowered his head to Lily's shoulder as she giggled, "Now that you're done being a total dickhead, let's celebrate!" Sirius moved some of the parchments aside and the word 'orphan' jumped out at him. He picked it up carefully as Lily patted James consolingly on top of the head, giggling still, and skimmed through it.
"Fuck," Remus squeaked, walking out of the kitchen and noticing the murderous glint in Sirius' eye. Peter pivoted and re-entered the kitchen as fast as he could.
"What the fuck is this?" Sirius asked, holding the paper in front of Lily, who winced as James picked his head up off her shoulder to glare at Sirius, "what the fuck is this?" Sirius asked again, waving the parchment, and James grabbed it, dodging Lily's small hands that were trying to grasp it back.
"Tell me this is a joke," James said in an eerily quiet voice, and Remus gulped, taking a small step back. James noticed his movement and spun his head around to glare at the werewolf, "Tell me that this is a FUCKING-"
"It's not," Lily said quickly, before James could charge at Remus, who looked slightly terrified of the fire in James' eyes, "We decided it was best to get a move on and booked an appointment at the orphanage at 11 tomorrow morning," she said bravely, crossing her arms and meeting James' angry gaze with her own.
"Are you mental?"
"No," Lily said simply, eyes flashing as James crumpled the parchment and threw it at the wall, "Ther'es no need to behave like a child-"
"Like a child? Lily you're behaving like a child. You're all mad! You can't just go sauntering into the place without planning everything-"
"We're not stupid James, we've been planning this for days," Lily spat, taking a step forwards so she could prod her furious boyfriend in the chest.
"Days?" Sirius growled, slamming his hand on the table, "Days and you couldn't be bothered to fucking tell us about this? This isn't a little joke or adventure, it's dangerous and for you three to not even tell us is absolutely unacceptable!" Sirius roared, standing up, and Lily turned to glare at him, finger still poking James, who was breathing like a winded bull, in the chest.
"Well I'm sorry but if you two had been here we might have mentioned it," Remus cut in, and the two boys' heads snapped towards him.
"Are you actually blaming my fucking mother-"
"No!" Remus roared, shaking his head quickly as he glared at James, "You know I would never do that Prongs, but you have to be rational enough to see that this was just productive planning. We have to take action at some point. It's the only way to end all this madness! What happened to your mother did urge us forward, because it just goes to show what's at stake! If you two bloody obstinate fools can't accept that, and just take all this nonsense a blow to your fucking egos, then to hell with you," Remus growled.
"Our egos?" Sirius bellowed, "You think this is about our fucking egos?"
"Yes I do," Remus said sternly, glaring back at Sirius with as much anger as he was receiving from the boy, "If this situation had been reversed, and you two had been here planning this while we were at Mungos, it wouldn't have been an issue, now would it?" Remus said calmly. With that, he turned on his heel and stormed into the kitchen, leaving a seething duo in the living room with Lily, who looked quite stunned and impressed with Remus' handling of the situation.
"That's such bullshit-" Sirius began, growling angrily as his eyes remained glued on the kitchen door.
"He's right," Lily said in a small voice, and the two looked at her with disbelief.
"You think this is about my ego?" James asked, slightly wounded that she would think so little of him.
"Not exactly," she sighed, taking a step back from James to sink into one of the chairs, looking up at the two frozen boys with an exhausted expression, "he's right in saying that if the situation was reversed, nobody would have had a problem," she said, and Sirius scoffed, crossing his arms and turning away from her, "But it's not entirely about your egos. While I'm sure some of this is the fact that you weren't included, the real issue is that you're both just so protective that you'd take the brunt of it, I know that," she added quietly, looking down at the floor, "But things have to be done if we want this bloody war to end, and the sooner you understand that it's not personal, that we are capable of doing this, the better," she finished, continuing to look down at the floor. Sirius looked at her for a few moments, defeated and slumped in the chair, and sighed. He knew she was right, if anyone was capable of handling this situation as well as himself, or even better than he could have done, it would be Remus and Lily. He gently stroked her head before turning and walking into the kitchen to apologize to Remus.
"James," Lily said quietly, after a few moments of silence, afraid to look up at her boyfriend, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you'd react like this, and-" she broke off as she felt a few tears escape her eyes, and quickly reached up to bat them away. She felt as James kneeled down in front of her, nudging her chin with his finger to meet her eyes with his own. He reached up and wiped away the few wet remnants on her cheeks, before smiling slightly.
"You don't have to be sorry," he whispered, the brown in his eyes melting into her as she looked into them, "I'm sorry."
"No, I should have told you, I just-"
"It's okay," James said, cupping her face in both of his hands, his heart breaking at the pain and guilt in her eyes as she looked back at him, a few more tears escaping her eyes, "I'm just worried about you, I can't lose you Lily-"
"I'm just visiting an orphanage," she said quietly, and James chuckled, causing Lily to smile slightly.
"All this drama over an orphanage," he chuckled, pulling her to her feet, "I know you three can handle this by yourselves. It's really not even dangerous when I come to think about it. It just scares me that you might have gone and not told me about this until after. And what if something had happened and-"
"I wouldn't have," Lily said, shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around James' waist, effectively cutting off his tirade by burying her face in his chest, "I promise." Remus walked out of the kitchen then, his eyes falling on the couple.
"Guess you realized you were acting like an insulted hippogriff then?" Remus said coldly, and James sighed, turning to Remus.
"I'm sorry, I overreacted, I just-" Remus held up his hand, cutting off James' explanation, and giving him a small smile.
"Just behave next time," Remus said, and James smirked at him, "Prick," he added, and James snorted, putting his arm around Lily and heading over to where Remus was gathering the parchments. Sirius followed after Remus, Peter bringing up the rear, eyeing James warily. Lily picked up the crumpled parchment from where James had thrown it and unfurled it, straightening it out on the table, "Would you like to see them?" Remus asked, quirking a sardonic brow at James and Sirius, who nodded sheepishly, sitting in the chairs Remus pointed to, "then sit down and listen. No interruptions. No behaving like overgrown toddlers. No angry looks. No tantrums. Understand?" The two nodded quickly, eyeing Remus warily, and the werewolf rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Lily, who was once again staring at her bloody parchment, and gesturing for her to start.
"My name is Alison Darby, I'm forty three years old, I grew up in Kent and I am moving into a two story, three bedroomed house at 21 Langside Avenue in East Putney."
"And you are looking to adopt a…?"
"Daughter," Lily said quickly, and Peter snorted. Remus threw him a warning look, and then shot another one at Sirius and James, who looked like they were going to say something stupid.
"What time are we leaving?"
"Approximately 10am," Peter piped up, "Lily's going to transfigure her appearance to look forty three, and change her hair colour for good measure, and you're going to be underneath the invisibility cloak. I am going to be in my rat form, and you will be carrying me in your pocket so there are no slip ups with the cloak."
"Our appointment is with?"
"Patricia Waters at 11 o clock," Lily said, and Remus nodded, "When she takes me on a tour of the orphanage, I'm going to talk to her about how she raises the children and what they do during the holidays. I'll even drop in a cheeky compliment about how well kept the children look to butter her up," Lily said, and James smirked, wiping it off his face as Remus turned to look at him.
"You and I will remain in the small office, and if we're not in the right one we'll look for the real office, and we'll sift through the files while Lily goes about her tour."
"I'm going to try to make the tour last at least an hour," Lily said, "and that way I'll have enough time to ask questions, meet some children, and you should have enough time to go through files."
"Lily will let us know she is finished with her tour with Sirius and James' detention mirrors, of which we will have one."
"Hold on," Sirius interrupted, shrinking slightly under Remus' angry glare, "How are we supposed to know what's happening?"
"You'll just have to have faith," Lily said, and Sirius glared at her.
"Don't look like that," Remus huffed, crossing his arms, "The plan is well thought out, we've got our tracks covered, and once we exit the orphanage we just have to disapparate and we will meet you at the Potter Place."
"I don't like this," James sighed, pulling the mirror out of his pocket and handing it to Lily, who smiled at him before putting it in the packed purse (complete with undetectable extension charm) which was lying on the table. It also had forged identification, which would pass muggle standards of inspection, and muggle money that Lily had exchanged the previous day.
"Tough," Remus quipped, accepting the other mirror from a very grumpy Sirius, and handing it to Lily.
The sounds of clicking heels resonated in the marble corridor of the Lestrange home as Bellatrix sauntered down the halls, her hooded eyes admiring the portraits of Lestranges from centuries past; her new family. She smirked a portrait of Rodulphus' grandfather's great uncle, who was holding the head of a muggle in his hands, smirking at the painter.
Arranged marriages were common in the pureblood community, organized by parents wishing to carry on their bloodline appropriately. Bellatrix had been lucky in her arrangement, marrying into a family as dark as her soul, to a husband that took as much glee in the sight of blood and the sound of painful howls as she did.
"This way," a hoarse voice said from beside her, and she turned to see Lucius Malfoy gesturing to a hidden doorway in the wall. She entered, followed by Malfoy, to see a long table, the opposite end of which her Lord sat, patiently awaiting the arrival of his newest, and favourite, recruit.
"Take a seat," he said, gesturing to the empty chair across from her husband, "Now that we have all arrived, I would like to inform you of the brilliant trap young Dolohov has created," he said, his lipless mouth stretching into an unnatural, terrifyingly chilling smile as he looked up on the young man a few seats away from him, "A taboo. To capture our enemies."
"A taboo on what, my Lord?" a hooded Death Eater Bellatrix did not recognize inquired, and Voldemorts' smile widened, his red eyes flashing.
"My name, Avery. A trap, to capture all those who dare speak it, dare challenge me. I have already cast the charm. It shall commence at midnight."
Hello!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I promise it's going to fill up with adventure soon!
Please review! It motivates me to keep writing!
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
t.t.