Sorry for the delay, I've been crazy busy with a bunch of things. Sadly, a short(er) chapter today. But, but, more is in the works soon, promise! In the meantime, reviews motivate more and better writing!

Chapter 4: Encounters

Harry look again at James. He was careful not to look for too long, because he didn't want to get caught staring. However, when he turned away and looked across the table, he caught sight of another familiar face.

Sirius.

This wasn't the Sirius Harry was familiar with. This Sirius appeared at first glance to be almost a decade younger, even though Harry was quite certain they were in the same time period. His face was filled with color and life, and he looked more handsome than ever. Harry realized at this moment just what a toll Azkaban had taken on his godfather.

Sitting next to Sirius was Lupin- also looking much younger and healthier than the gaunt, shabby man Harry knew. Both of these men had clearly led different lives, lives filled with joy and friendship. Looking closer, Harry noticed Lupin's hair to be parted strangely, hanging strangely over his forehead.

Shifting his attention way from the two Marauders, Harry looked around the room to see what familiar faces he could locate. He saw several- Arthur and Molly Weasley, Tonks, Mad-Eye- but also many unfamiliar people. All in all, Harry reckoned there to be double the number of people than there would have been at a typical Order meeting in his own universe. He wondered if all these extra people were dead in his world, or if some other event had precipitated a rise in Order membership.

Suddenly, James leaned forward in his chair to say something to Sirius. As much as Harry wanted to hear these two men interact, his father and the closest person to family he remembered, he was unable to hear a word they said. This is because when James leaned forward, Harry was able to see the woman sitting on the other side of his father: Lily Evans Potter.

Harry had seen many photographs of his mother. He had studied them more intently than Hermione had ever studied a book. She had been described to him many times. He was told that every time he looked into the mirror, he was looking at exact duplicates of her eyes. Once, in a dark graveyard, when he thought his life was nearly over, he had even seen a ghostly form of her. But he realized at that moment that he had never truly seen his mother before that moment.

There was an air of life to Lily that no photograph could show, that no description could adequately convey. She was energetically chatting with the person next to her, and every movement was filled with vivacious livelihood. Harry particularly saw this in her eyes. He knew, looking at her, that if asked, he too would be unable to come up with the words to describe her.

Luckily for Harry, who otherwise might have stared all day, Dumbledore began to speak to the group. "Thank you everyone for coming here today. Before we start, I should dispense with some business many of you are no doubt curious about. The three young people who accompanied me today are not Hogwarts students, but instead have been home-schooled. Recently, the three of them came to information about Lord Voldemort-" several people in the room cringed as he said the name "-information very valuable to our cause. Voldemort found out about this, and went to their homes to hunt them down. The three of them miraculously survived, though Voldemort murdered their families."

There was silence at this. Everyone in the room was now staring at them. Harry's heart was warmed to see Lily staring at him with a motherly look of concern. Two seats to his right, Ron was blushing as Mrs. Weasley gave them a similar look. Hermione seemed immune to this though, as she was scribbling something down on a piece of paper. Harry couldn't see what she was writing though, because she was taking pains to ensure no one else saw what she was writing.

Dumbledore continued, "Earlier today, the three of them made their way to Hogwarts, seeking my aid. I have agreed to grant them sanctuary at Hogwarts, and enroll them as students at the school, both to continue their magical education and to endure their safety. In return, they have agreed to tell me what they have learned about Voldemort."

"Now, with that piece of business dispensed with, let us quickly discuss the other matters at hand. Kingsley, a report about the Muggle Prime Minister?"

Kingsley stood up and said, "As many of you know, I have been posing as a secretary for the Muggle Prime Minister, as an attempt to ward off any serious attacks against the Muggle government. As of now, there have been no attempts that I am aware of to place the Prime Minister himself under the Imperius curse, but lately I have suspected that Voldemort is working his way up the chain. A few staff members have been acting oddly, and I believe a few members of Parliament have been compromised as well. However, I don't believe Voldemort is concentrating too much force in this area."

"Thank you Kingsley. James, do you have a report on the Auror's office?"

Harry's father stood up. "Yes Dumbledore. There's a balance of power dispute right now in the office. As you all know, the Minister believes that this is a war for the military to fight. He thinks this is the place he will make his legacy, and doesn't want the Order interfering with it. That is putting particular stress on Sirius, Frank and I, as we are all known to be…" James paused searching for the words. "Dumbledore loyalists."

At the front of the room, Dumbledore smiled, and motioned for James to continue. "However, Lee Coady, the head of the office, doesn't mind so much. He can't risk showing up at an Order meeting, but he's aware that we do, and tacitly supports it. We just have to make sure the Ministry hawks don't catch on to what we're doing."

The meeting continued on like this for a while, with people giving reports on various aspects of what was happening in the wizarding world. Harry noticed that the world seemed more or less similar to his own, just with different people in different positions. He wasn't sure how much this world was going to be of help.

Finally, the meeting seemed about ready to come to a close. Dumbledore stood back up and said, "It looks like we have only one more item on the agenda. We still need to hear a report from…" Dumbledore paused, searching a page sitting in front of him… "Peter Pettigrew."

So I had more I was going to add to this chapter, but that was before I decided to put Peter back into the tale. And that just seemed like a delicious note to end on for today!