"You never told me you were going to join the Order!"

"Well, you never asked!"

Rowan had cornered James the next morning at breakfast (literally) and demanded he go on a little "picnic" with her. Under the watchful eye of Lily the two took their toast to the lake, where they sat near the shoreline, munching in huffy silence. Rowan had only just gone crazy on him after several minutes of light, falsely cheery conversation, and she was worried the famous Watkins temper was going to get the best of her in this disagreement.

"I shouldn't have to ask, Sirius!!" She cried, flinging her hands into the air so abruptly her last piece of toast flew out of her hand and soared into the lake. "The Order's some serious business, you're kinda supposed to, might be really quite nice if you would, tell the people who care about you that you're joining!" Sirius's face tightened, his jaw growing taunt just like it did whenever he was concentrating hard or going to snap. In this case Rowan couldn't quite tell, until he flung his toast angrily into the lake, where it landed neatly next to hers. There was an awkward pause, then--

"I can do whatever I want to! I'm a free man!" Sirius cried, standing up and heading towards his and James favorite beech tree. Rowan flounced after him, raging.

"Where the hell are you going?! I'm confronting you, stay put!" She demanded, digging her foot into the ground. When Sirius did nothing but continue to stomp away Rowan ran after him, catching up to him and last and pulling him around to face her.

"Good lord…" He muttered, rolling his eyes. "You're acting like my mother." Rowan felt her anger rising, and she had to try hard to keep herself from going full out crazy on Black. She took several short, relaxing breaths, then looked Sirius in the eyes and took his hand, which he tried to pull away. She tightened her grip and looked up at him, her lips slightly parted, and he resisted, his eyes softening a little as she looked up at him.

"You've obviously never watched a real confrontation." Sirius joked, smiling down at Rowan. He suddenly pulled away from Rowan and ran down towards the Lake again, laughing.

"Come on!" He cried, his hair falling into his eyes in the light breeze, "This is the dramatic part where I'm supposed to talk back to you and defend myself, woman!" Rowan crossed her arms, staring at him, but she broke her serious demeanor when he stuck his tongue out at her and scurried up the tall tree, propping his feet up in a little nook of branches.

"I told James…" He said sheepishly when Rowan climbed into the tree next to him. "And my parents, just to piss them off…" He laughed bitterly. "They've kicked me out for good now. Course, they kicked me out sixth year when I left for the Potter's, but now…it's pretty much official." His voice trailed off, his onyx eyes looking towards the sky, where they reflected the foliage above. He glanced at Rowan out of the corner of his eye, then looked back up into the tree. "Dumbledore does too…" He said the last bit very fast, as if it was unpleasant to say. Rowan nearly fell out of the tree.

"Dumbledore supports you?!" She cried in disbelief. "We don't even know if there's going to be a war and he's supporting you?" Sirius didn't say anything, just winced at Rowan's harsh tone of voice. Rowan didn't care. She knew she was yelling, and loudly, the several third years hanging around the Lake were laughing, sniggering as they realized Sirius Black was being told off, something that sometimes the teachers didn't dare do. Sirius didn't seem to be paying them any mind, but when he spoke his voice was hard and cold, and his eyes were no longer sparkling.

"I asked Dumbledore about it personally, after the feast." He said hollowly, still not meeting Rowan's eyes. "He told me that it feels like the time Grindelvald was in power…he said it feels like we have to fight again, and that the Order is going to need as much help as possible to accomplish it."

Rowan wasn't aware her mouth was hanging wide open until Sirius reached over and pushed her chin back up.

"You were drooling a little bit there." He said, suddenly sounding like his old self. Rowan grinned, not able to help herself. "Was I?"

Sirius laughed again. "Oh yea, all over the place." He said, using a nearby branch to steady himself as he sat up and leaned towards Rowan. "Right here." His fingers lightly trailed along her chin; Rowan swatted them away impatiently. She was in no mood for his flirtation, especially when she was still angry with him and stuck up in a tree.

"Stop distracting me from the subject, Black." She growled. To this Sirius rolled his eyes, ruffling his hair a little.

"Oh, so I'm Black when I'm in trouble and Sirius the rest of the time?" He moved closer. "But I distracted you? Good, I'll make a note of that, use it another time…." And he pulled out an imaginary piece of parchment and began to scribble on it with an invisible quill. Rowan scowled, swinging down from the tree to the patchy grass beneath it.

"So Dumbledore reckons that…that there really is going to be a war?" Sirius swung down from the tree and flopped onto his back, turning his head to look up at Rowan.

"Well obviously, I just said that…" He said irritably. "I can't believe that you, of all people Rowan, haven't picked up on this. You're usually more…insightful." Rowan stared at him.

"Insightful?" Sirius just shook his head.

"Never mind, never mind…" He sat up, taking her hands in his and looking her deep in the eyes. She did not object, and he gave a small smile.

"The signs are all there, Rowan. The strange disappearances, the headlines of torture and Death Eater rallying….if you stopped sleep walking long enough, you'd see that a bunch of the people here (Slytherins) are messing around with the Dark Arts in their spare time. Have you seen what Snivellus is reading lately?" Rowan had. The thick, morocco bound book that must have weighed only five tons. It was the sort of thing Remus might carry around with him, but something told her that there was no way that thing was a school book, no subject in her memory had anything that looked even remotely like it. Snape wasn't much of a reader anyways, so she'd figured the worst on her own. Sirius shook his head, a rather unpleasant look upon his face.

"Nasty little oddball's up to his watery eyeballs in that stuff. Swear he's got the Mark already…he went crazy on me when I almost touched his left arm in the hallway."

Rowan shrugged, smiling slightly. "We all know Snivellus hates human contact." Sirius frowned, a little crease appearing between his brows and he stood up, beginning to pace. Rowan lazily began to examine her nails.

"Ya, but there was another time…" He said, determined to make his point. "We had to roll up our sleeves or take off our cloaks for Potions, I think you were with Lily that day so you didn't see, but he kept his down the whole time. We were working with cauldrons and he was struggling. Flapping around like the giant bat he is, unable to cut anything…he ended up rolling up the right armed sleeve, but not the left." He moved to sit down on the rock next to Rowan again and opened his bag, fiddling with the latch a little longer than needed. "Why is that Rowan?" He asked. Rowan merely looked at him, giving him permission to continue. He looked over his shoulder at the castle.

"And Regulus. I'm beginning to suspect…"

"Suspect what?" Rowan and Sirius both jumped. It wasn't until their heads banged together Rowan realized how close they'd been sitting. Rubbing her temples, which felt as if they had surely just split open, Rowan looked up to see James, accompanied by the rest of the gang.

"Make room on that rock kids, Prongs is back." James said. He slid down next to Rowan, forcing Sirius to the ground. Remus buried his face in an Arithmancy book, and Peter scurried over to help Sirius up, who swatted him away, brushing off his robes.

"What're you doing out here?" He demanded, glaring at James. "Can't Rowan and I just talk?" James shrugged, stretching. He'd taken off his robes and was now just wearing his short sleeves, even though it was quite cool. He'd obviously been just showing off his Quidditch muscles to Lily, no doubt. He didn't answer.

"Don't leave us in suspense, the gang wants to hear who's winning the argument." Rowan giggled but fell silent at the look Sirius shot her.

"Why do you have to poke your nose into everything Prongs?" Black's bitter tone of voice caught everyone's attention. Even Remus, who usually never listened to anyone bicker, looked up from behind his book's thick pages.

"Chill Padfoot." James said, looking slightly alarmed. Rowan didn't think he'd ever heard Sirius snap at him like that before. "Rowan and I are just friends, I swear we've never talked about our secret future plans to marry in front of you--oops. Cat's out of the bag now, Rowan." He said. Rowan nodded, lifting herself from the grass and throwing her arms around James's neck.

"Well that's alright…we did already pick lovely names for our first children too." James nodded.

"I personally liked Harry, but Rowan was more for Robert."

"Enough with the play talk." Sirius snapped. James surrendered.

"Okay…but when did you decide you were joining the Order? I know you told me, and I told Lily and Rowan…and the rest of you." Remus was stuffing his ten pound book back into his bag.

"Yes, I've been wondering that as well." From the corner by the shore, Peter nodded eagerly. Sirius looked moodily up at them all, then, after deciding there was nothing to be gained by refusing to answer, cleared his throat, and glanced at Rowan. He began to speak.

"Well gang, I've decided, one this year's through and gone, to join the Order." He said all of this in a swift, business-y sort of voice, the kind McGonagall might use when giving instructions. "I'm joining, because those crocks don't know the first thing about Death Eaters." Rowan glared at him.

"And you do? " Sirius glared back, then when neither he nor Rowan broke eye contact, he got up and began to pace in front of the tree.

"Look at my family!" He cried, making wild, jerky motions with his arms as he walked. "If you don't think I don't know Death Eaters, feel free to stop by and check out the family tree."

"What, are you some sort of expert then?" Rowan demanded, standing up in anger. Sirius looked at her, temper raging.

"I just know what kind of things they've got on their minds!" He cried, suddenly stopping his rapid pacing and standing tensely before Rowan. "Reggie-my own brother!" He sank to the ground near James's feet and pressed his head into his hands, shaking it slowly. "He's been turned into some kind of drone by my mum and dad. Hell, mum and dad, of all people…" He shook his head in disgust, laughing bitterly. "They're getting cold feet hearing what You-Know-Who's really got up his sleeve. This is dangerous man, wizard, demon, what have you…" His voice shook. "And if you think I'm up for just letting innocent people walk right into the path of him, I'm afraid you're mistaken." He finished, glaring around at them all. There was a ringing silence. Then…

"Well, I think that if we don't fight.." Remus said suddenly, his expressive tawny eyes reflecting the warm morning sun as he spoke in crisp tone that carried throughout the warm air. He paused, gathering his words, than continued. "That if people aren't willing to stand up and protect ourselves, then someone must…and if anyone's going to from Hogwarts, I say Sirius." He sat down in a final sort of way, then stood back up. "And besides," He added, glancing towards the castle, "Dumbledore believes there's going to be a war…and," He turned to James, "I think that if Dumbledore believes it's true, then it is. If we cant trust the Headmaster, we can't trust anyone, that's the way I see it. I've long lost my trust in the Ministry. If Dumbledore says there's going to be a war, then I'm willing to fight."

Rowan was amazed, and, by the looks on the faces of the others, so were they. Nobody expected bookish Remus to be a warrior. If he was willing--

"I agree with Remus." Rowan said, standing and patting him on the back. They all stared at her, wide eyed, and she continued. "Who can we trust if not Dumbledore?" Sirius looked like he was having a hard time swallowing.

"No…no, no…" He whispered, shaking his head. "Rowan. No. It's…they'll rip you to shreds." It took a moment for his words to fully click in Rowan's mind, but when they did she marched right up to Sirius and looked up at him, her eyes hard and blazing as Lily's.

"You don't think I can manage myself, Sirius?" She hissed, feeling hot, angry tears welling up in her eyes. "It's a do or die sort of thing! Just because Im a girl doesn't mean I can't fight for what's right!" James applauded, and Remus gave Rowan a weak smile from his post under the shelter of the oak tree. Sirius looked down at Rowan, who was panting, her chest heaving as she stared him down, her eyes sparkling with tears. He smiled slightly, putting his hands on her shoulders, gripping them rather more tightly than needed. Rowan winced and he loosened his grip slightly, looking at her with an odd expression she'd never seen him wear before. His eyes were soft around the edges as usual when he gazed own at her, but there was something different about them…and his smile. Instead, his perfect haughty features were arranged in a pleasant sort of expression, the one might wear when gazing at a newborn infant or a heartfelt love letter. Rowan looked away, a little embarrassed. She suddenly felt like she didn't need to know what his eyes seemed to be telling her.

"It's not that, you're not a stupid girl at all…I" He muttered, now looking slightly embarrassed himself. "In fact, I think that you're…" He paused. Rowan could almost see the wheels turning, folding over the other like clockwork as he struggled for the right words to say. Finally he found them, staring Rowan down with that same tender expression.

"Simply put, I love you." He said. Rowan looked at him.

"Wh….what?" She said in disbelief. He shrugged.

"I said I loved you." From their position by the tree, James and Peter let out a long "Awwww" Sirius shot them a look, one that clearly read "Shut it" then turned back to Rowan.

"That's why I'm worried about you wanting to join the Order. I don't want you in that sort of danger. Because if I let you go and lost you…" He turned away from her. "That would just suck, wouldn't it?" Rowan laughed at his change from formal tone. He turned back to her, smiling.

"Well, let me rephrase that." He said. "It would be heartbreaking. So…really think it over, okay?" He said. Rowan took his hand.

"I promise…and I love you too." She said, blushing. Sirius smiled, then snatched his hand away.

"Yea, yea, yea…I know. Enough with the mushy stuff." He walked over to where James sat and took an apple from his bag, taking a large bite.

"I'm taking a nap."

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