A/N: Sorry it's taken a while on for this, but I've had major writers block for some stupid reason...anywho, I really didn't like the last chapter, it was very predictable, yet necessary. But this is where the story comes into its own – this is where we get more into the workings of the Order and a little more romance thrown in as well – not necessarily in this chapter, but its coming soon. Hopefully, you guys will stick with me!
Chapter 10
The Order, part one
Twenty–one years.
It had been twenty–one years since Sirius Black had set foot in Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. At the ripe old age of sixteen, he had run away from his Dark Arts obsessed pure-blood family to his best friend's house. And now, those twenty–one years later, along with his best friends James Potter and Remus Lupin, he was back.
And why would he be back at the house that he hates so much?
Because he had to. This was the only place that the Order of the Phoenix could reconvene in secret. This house had more protective spells on it than any other member could think of – short of the Hogwarts castle itself.
As the three men entered the nearly abandoned building, they noticed something moving on the staircase. On instinct, James, Sirius, and Remus all pulled out their wands and pointed them at a very old, wrinkled house-elf that was completely naked except for a filthy rag tied like a loincloth around his middle.
Sirius stared at the elf in disbelief. "Kreacher?"
Kreacher blinked at Sirius. "Master left years ago, Kreacher wonders why he's back."
Remus raised his eyebrows at James, who shrugged.
"I'm claiming my house," glared Sirius. "Why don't you go upstairs and...clean something."
Kreacher stared at Sirius, looking as though he wanted nothing more than to tell Sirius to leave, but he grudgingly said, "Yes, Master," and began up the stairs, mumbling under his breath.
"Good to see not much had changed." Sirius said bitterly as they began to explore the House of Black. But before the could make it too far, Sirius collided with an umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg. He managed to keep his balance, but the umbrella stand fell down with a resounding crash.
Before could even utter a swear word, a pair of long, moth eaten curtains just down the hall were thrown open to reveal a life-sized portrait of a screaming old woman. She was drooling, her eyes were rolling, and her screaming seemed to wake other portraits, who also began to scream.
The old woman's eyes fell on Sirius, who glared back. "Yoooou!" she screamed, "Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!" Then she noticed James and Remus behind him. "More blood traitors! Filth! Scum! Half-breed! Begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers!"
"What, Mum, not happy to see me?" Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. With an amazing effort, the three of them managed to force the curtains closed as Mrs. Black's screaming stopped, along with the other portraits.
Panting slightly, Sirius motioned for them to go downstairs. Once there, they found a kitchen that was covered in cobwebs. After a few cleaning charms, it looked almost liveable. James and Remus dusted off the table while Sirius had momentarily disappeared. When he returned, from the pantry, he brought back a bottle of what James was sure was some kind of alcohol.
James and Remus gave him questioning looks, to which he replied, "Considering that Hell has frozen over – as proven by the fact that I'm in this house again – I suggest a drink is in order." Sirius conjured three glasses and poured the drinks.
They sat in thoughtful silence for a few moments before Remus turned to James. "How's Harry doing with everything?"
James let out a sigh and shook his head slightly. "It's not been easy. Lily said she heard him talking in his sleep the other night. She said it sounded like he was reliving the night of Voldemort's return, and Cedric's death."
"Poor guy," said Sirius as he finished his drink and poured another. "Has he been asking a lot of questions?"
"He did when he first got home. We told him that nothing has really happened yet, which it true. We haven't even had an official meeting yet. I'm not sure if he believed us, but he's been pretty quiet. He went over to the Weasleys today, so maybe being with Ron will help."
"Did Lily have to work?"
"No, she took the day off. She went to the funeral."
"He was seventeen, right?" Remus asked.
"I'm not sure – he had to have been at least that old to enter the tournament, but I don't know if he ever made it to eighteen or not."
They were silent while they finished their drinks. "Well," said Sirius. "Let's keep going, shall we? Knowing my lovely mother, there are bound to be all sorts of surprises."
000
It was a bleak day for early July. A fog hung over the single story brick building, bring a sense of tragedy and foreboding. But what else could this day bring? The weather seemed to reflect the mood of the gathering crowd.
Lily, in her black robes, approached the brick building as old memories flooded back. This was the same wizarding funeral home that Gideon and Fabian Prewett had been at, one day right after the other. The person who had spoken at the funerals had said that they had "died a hero's death," because it had taken five Death Eaters to kill them. Yeah, like that was suppose to make anyone feel better. Lily always hated when people said that...she had learned the hard way that, in the end, it doesn't matter if you die like a hero or not...your still gone forever, and no amount of comforting words can make your loved ones feel any better.
But this occasion was, if possible, even more tragic that the death of two good friends. This time, it was the death of a seventeen year old who was mere weeks away from graduating from Hogwarts.
A picture of Cedric Diggory greeted Lily in the foyer. A small plaque at the base of the frame gave his date of birth and date of death. His eighteenth birthday wan only a week away. The picture looked like it had been taken last summer at the Quidditch World Cup; he waved at Lily, flashing her a brilliant smile as she moved to the main room.
Nearly a hundred chairs filled the room, all facing the casket, which was open. Everyone was dressed in black robes. She saw Amos and Emily Diggory at the front of the room, greeting fellow mourners. As Lily made her way up the Diggorys, she past a group of teenagers, who Lily presumed had gone to school with Cedric. In the middle of the group was a girl with long, raven hair. Lily did a double–take. 'That must be Cho,' she thought sadly. Harry had told her the Cho Chang and Cedric were an item before his untimely death.
The line diminished, and Lily finally stood next to the body. It had been cleaned up – that last time she had seen Cedric, his eyes were wide in surprise. She shook her head slightly, trying to erase that image in her head. As she looked at his peaceful form, she knew that this could easily have been her own son. It was suppose to be Harry. A tear slid down he cheek as she turned from Cedric to his parents. Amos looked surprised to see her, but Emily looked like she was expecting it.
Lily took Emily's hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Because of everything that happened – that night – I never had a chance to tell you how very sorry I am." she said sincerely.
"Thank you," Emily replied. By now, it seemed she was in a state of grief that had far surpassed tears. "I was hoping you'd come," she continued. "I wanted to ask you something." Lily nodded as Emily led the way to what Lily always called the 'survivors' room'. It was set aside for family to use away from the rest of the mourners. Once they were alone, they sat, and Emily looked nervously around.
"What is it?" Lily asked gently.
"How – How did Harry survive all those years ago?" she asked hurriedly.
Lily had been expecting this. How could she tell this mother that her love had saved her son from death? So, she decided, she would tell Emily the truth – some of it, at least. "No one knows for sure," Lily began. "Not even Albus Dumbledore truly knows. But know this, Emily: Cedric did nothing wrong. As I understand it, neither Harry nor Cedric knew what was happening when they arrived at the graveyard. They thought it was just another part of the third task."
"Do you know that the Ministry has been trying to keep the whole thing very quiet?"
Lily sighed. "Unfortunately, yes. I was there when Dumbledore told Fudge what had happened. He was in total denial. James heard yesterday that they're thinking of demoting him from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, just so they can try to discredit him to make everyone think that he's going senile."
"Th–Then Cedric will have died in vain." Emily said as she collapsed into tears.
"Hey, now." Lily said comfortingly as she rubbed the small of Emily's back. "That's not true. People are taking action that are fighting against him."
"Like who?" she asked doubtfully. "That Order of the Phoenix group? They're just a myth."
Around the time that Harry was born, rumors circulated about the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society who's sole purpose was to defeat Lord Voldemort. But as none of the true Order's members came forward to admit the truth, the majority of the wizarding community regarded it as mere hopeful thinking. Even to this day, Lily was unsure anyone outside of the Order ever found out.
"The Order has been recalled." Lily said quietly.
Emily's crying immediately stopped as she stared at Lily. "Are you in the Order?" she asked softly.
Lily knew she should keep her mouth shut, but it had never been a secret that she and James have always been against Voldemort. And, given the fact that she was the Boy Who Lived's mother, of course many would suspect that she was a member of the fabled group. And besides, the Death Eaters would know who was in the Order during the first war – Peter would have told them by now. So if telling Emily that there was an Order and she was part of it would comfort this grieving mother, then so be it.
"Yes," Lily said. "And things are being done. Nothing on a large scale can be done until the wizarding community and the Ministry accepts the fact the Voldemort has returned, but things are "
"Thank you so much," Emily said as she hugged Lily.
"Not a problem. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to write me."
Emily nodded and they left the 'survivor's room' and went back into he main hall. That was when she was the Minister of Magic himself enter the funeral home. He was accompanied by two Aurors; Lily knew one was Dawlish the other was a tall, bald, black man with an earring who looked oddly familiar. She narrowed her eyes at Fudge, as though daring him to approach her. But soon after she caught his gaze, he dropped eye contact and preceded into the room where the service was to take place.
Lily took a seat in the back row by herself. She watched as so many came to pay their respects to Cedric and his parents. Again, her eyes fell on a group of teenagers who must have been around Cedric's age, standing in the corner. Here they were, barely adults, grieving their friend's sudden death. With a jolt in her stomach, Lily realized she was seventeen when she had attended the first funeral of a friend. A girl from Ravenclaw who Lily had been fairly close to had died in an attack on her family's mainly Muggle village. She had been the same age as Lily.
But she was shaken from her thoughts when a deep voice next to her said, "Mrs. Potter?"
Lily turned to see that Auror she couldn't place sitting next to her. "Yes?" she replied cautiously. If he came with Fudge, she wasn't sure if she would like what he had to say.
"My name is Kingsley Shacklebolt, and I've worked with James a few time over the past few years. I just want you to know that not everyone believes what Fudge is telling everyone. I, and at least half of the other Aurors, believe James.
"Thank you," she said slightly taken aback.
Kingsley looked around, making sure that no one was listening and leaned closer to whisper, "I've also contacted Dumbledore and he mentioned a secret Order that I might be interested in."
"We'd be glad to have you," she smiled. Kingsley winked at her before leaving.
Lily sat alone during the memorial service. Surprisingly, she was not thinking of the late Cedric Diggory, but of her own husband and what Kingsley had said.
Not everyone believes what Fudge is telling everyone. What exactly was Fudge saying? Lily felt sure that it was something to do with Harry being a lair and Dumbledore finally going off his rocker. And if so, then was James defending their son? Surely he would, but what if Fudge was going behindJames's back, telling the rest of the Ministry workers that Harry was just a spoiled, attention seeking brat? This seemed much more fitting – Fudge would never approach James and say it to his face. The Minister was too much of a coward. But by the end of the service, when Lily had analyzed and over analyzed every aspect of it, she came to one conclusion. It was going to be a rough time for her family.
000
The next few days were, surprisingly enough, uneventful. Harry had come back home, and brought Ron and Hermione to stay as well. They were planning on moving into Grimmauld Place by next week. James was still the Ministry, though Lily wasn't expecting him to be home for at least a few more hours. Harry and Ron were playing wizarding chess as Hermione watched in Harry's room. Lily was about to go down stairs when she heard someone come in though the fireplace.
Immediately, Lily drew her wand. She carefully crept down the stairs. But when she heard James swearing, she relaxed slightly and put her wand back in her pocket. When she went to meet James, she was surprised to see him in such a state: his black hair was even messier than usual and his hazel eyes were filled with anger.
"What happened?" she asked worriedly.
James turned towards her, just now noticing she was there. "Fudge is the biggest idiot I've ever seen!" he screamed. "He and the Head of the Auror department, Scrimgeour , came up to me and said that they wanted to have a word with me. And you know what they said? They said that if I don't stop spreading 'lies', then they would fire me! So I told them that I will not stay quiet and that they could take my job and shove it up their ass!" James began pacing before he picked up a glass candle holder and threw it against the wall. Even though it shattered no where near Lily, she flinched and covered her mouth with her hand.
"And they'll be watching Sirius like a hawk. He tried to stick up for me," he flung himself down on the couch. "But I told him to stay out of it – the Order need at least a few Aurors."
Lily sat next to her husband and began rubbing his tense shoulders. Slowly, he began to relax. "There's still Kingsley Shaklebolt," Lily said soothingly, "and Sirius's cousin, Tonks."
"I know, I know," was all he said.
Lily heard a stair creak, though James didn't notice. She turned her head slightly, and could have sworn she saw a very familiar sneaker disappear half way up the stairs.