Spov

"HALLIEEEEE! LILYYYY!"

"What the-?" Hallie started looking confused as Alice burst into the pub dragging Frank behind her with a wide smile.

We were in the Three Broomsticks with Lily and James, meeting up for dinner on Valentine's Day. In their nice clothes, they looked distinctly more put together than Hallie and I. They'd spent most of the day doing typical couple activities, a slay ride around Hogsmead, lunch in a cozy little tea shop, where as Hallie and I were both looking rather disheveled after ice skating, a series of snowball fights, and an all out war she'd started by animating several snowmen when she realized she was going to loose the snowball fight. By the end of day, it had been her army of snowmen against mine, and I had lost spectacularly.

Everyone turned to stare at Alice who made a B line for her best friends.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" Alice continued.

"Something tells me you ladies are about to be taken away." James said amused.

"I think I know what's happening." Lily said her eyes wide.

"What?" Hallie and I asked in unison but our questioned when Alice reached the table, still beaming and thrust forward her left hand, which had a glittering ring on it.

"He proposed!" she squealed. "We're getting married!"

Hallie's eyes went wide while Lily immediately started questioning Alice. Both girls grabbed Hallie and made their way giggling towards their own booth, apparently having completely forgotten about us. Hallie glanced over her shoulder, gave me an apologetic look, then turned back to her friends and immediately joined into the conversation. Apparently this was one of the few situations in which she actually enjoyed girl talk.

"And that is how you lose your fiancé in less than five minutes lads." Frank said laughing. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course." I said with a nod and he took the now empty seat next to James. We'd known Frank for a while now. He'd played keeper on the quidditch team with us and we were actually pretty good friends.

"How are you guys doing?" Frank asked.

"Good." We replied in unison and he looked at me.

"So you and Benson are finally together huh?"

I nodded.

"Well I'll have to thank you for that." He said grinning. "I had about a week's worth of excited letters from Alice, and anytime she's happy my life's a whole lot easier. You have no idea how long she's has been waiting for you two to go out. In fact I can't tell which she was more excited about, you two or our engagement." He finished with a laugh.

"I always knew you and Alice would tie the knot." James said grinning.

"Yeah everyone says that." He said. "Some people might think I'm out of my mind for doing this so early but I figured now or never right?"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"Well Alice is only half the reason I'm in town." He said lowering his voice.

"What's the other half?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah, something that competes with your engagement must be big." I finished for him.

"Actually, I came here to talk to you two."

"About what?" We asked in unison.

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure how to approach what he wanted to say next. To buy time, he looked at the girls, who were still talking excitedly from their booth across the pub.

"Have you been reading the papers lately?" he asked turning away from the girls and back to us.

"Yes." I said frowning.

"So you know about all the weird stuff going on, I assume you of all people can figure out who's behind it." He said looking at me and I nodded.

"Death Eaters." I said darkly.

"Exactly." Frank muttered

"What about them?" James asked.

"Do you ever wish you could do something about it?" he asked hesitantly.

"Of course." James said.

"I mean, like, seriously do something about it." He continued giving us a strange look. "Not just saying you do."

"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"Look I've known you two for years now, and you've always seemed to be the kind of people to take action, who can't stand to sit back when they can stand and fight."

"You're right about that." James said frowning. "But we can't do anything can we?"

He leaned closer again lowering his voice and after looking around said. "What if I told you could?"

"We're listening." I said with interest.

"Hypothetically speaking, what if there was a group, working outside of the Ministry, who was building a resistant against Voldemort and the Death Eaters."

"And, hypothetically of course, you were a member of this group?" I asked him.

"It's a possibility." He said nodding. "And in this hypothetical situation, what if I were to offer you an invitation to meet with the founder of such a group, tonight, in order to discuss joining said hypothetical group. Would that be something you two, and a number of a select group of people you trust, would be potentially interested in?"

"It is." James said frowning.

"Dark times are ahead mates, it's why I've proposed to Alice. If something were to happen…I don't want to have any regrets."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Why are you approaching us now?"

"Voldemort has much more power and numbers than the Ministry is admitting, and we need as many people as we can get. We would have approached you sooner, but you weren't of age until recently or nearly qualified enough. But you'll be out of school soon, and I'm sorry Sirius, but we needed to see where your loyalties lie. You'll be fighting against members of your family, and we weren't sure that was something you can handle."

"Trust me, I can." I said darkly.

"Well that became evident when you started dating Hallie."

"Does Alice know about this?" James asked frowning.

"She knows about as much as you do right now." He said cryptically. "But if you do turn up tonight I'll ask you not to tell her anymore. Or even about this meeting. I'm sure you can understand my hesitation. I want her to at least have the option of graduating and starting a relatively normal life without getting involved in all of this."

"No." I said frowning. "I don't. Isn't that her choice?"

"Don't be thick mate." James said. "How would you feel if Hallie knew about this? If she wanted to join?"

A feeling of intense horror crept through me as I pictured Hallie, fighting against people like my cousins or my brother. Determined to eliminate her just for existing, her only crime being born.

"Alice will get her choice when the time is right. In the mean time I want her to focus on her own life. But you two, I knew what your decision would be, and from the moment the Head of our Order said to look out for possible new recruits, you two were the first to come to mind."

"So this Head." I said frowning. "When do we meet him?"

"Here." He said taking a scrap of parchment from his pocket and laying it face down. "Look at it, memorize the location and time."

I picked up the parchment and saw four words written in loopy handwriting.

'The astronomy tower, midnight.'

I handed it to James who looked at it, then passed it back to Frank face down. He laid it on the table, tapped it once with his wand, and the paper burst into flame.

"You're a secretive bunch aren't you?" James asked grinning, but Frank didn't crack a smile.

"There are spies everywhere James." He said seriously. "And they would kill to get this information. Speak of it to no one, unless you think they intend to join the Order."

We nodded.

"Will you be there tonight?" I asked him and he shook his head.

"No I've got to get back to London, I've got training tonight. And if you'll excuse me," he said standing up. "I'd like to spend my remaining time with Alice. I hope to see you two much more in the near future."

"Us to." James agreed.

He walked across the pub and stole Alice away from the girls.

"Should we tell them?" James asked.

"No." I said quickly. "Moony and Wormtail yes, but not the girls, not yet."

I didn't think I could stand seeing the determined look on Hallie's face whenever she was told about something others didn't want her to do, at least not about this. I knew Hallie, she'd want to fight and the second I told her I didn't want her to join, it would be the first thing she would do.

"Padfoot, I don't know about you and Hallie, but I don't think I can keep this from Lily." James muttered quietly as both girls walked back to us, looking carefree and completely unconcerned with the real world and what was going on in it. It had only been hours, but suddenly I felt as if the time spent with Hallie today seemed like years ago.

I wasn't sure why, but I suddenly noticed how beautiful she was. Her long brown hair fell over her shoulder as she tucked it behind her ear and her deep blue eyes were amused as Lily continued to talk about some unknown subject. She'd always looked like this, but something in me had changed.

Seeing Hallie right now, laughing and looking so happy made my stomach clench. I didn't want to be the one to ruin that happiness, and I refused to be the one to put her in harms way. The way I felt towards her was different, like the night I'd been in her room, thinking of what it would be like to loose her, but more intense than ever. Suddenly, I realized I would be content to look at her, happy like this, forever. This feeling was so powerful and all consuming it scared me. Half of me wanted to leave right now and never look back, the other, more dominant part of me wanted to stay, hold Hallie and never let go. And I knew in this moment, if I had the chance, I never would.

"Just hold off until tonight." I said quietly to James as the girls approached the table. "Until we know everything that's going on. Then we can decide what we want to do."

"Well what are we going to do?" Peter asked quietly while sitting on his bed. We'd just made it back to the dormitory at about four in the morning, after talking to Dumbledore about his secret organization the Order of the Phoenix.

"Hold on." James said taking out his wand and quietly muttering a few spells. I knew he was sound proofing the room making absolutely sure that no one could heard the conversation we were about to have.

"I'm joining." I said simply when James had made it back to his bed, and Remus sat in the chair next to his nightstand. "I think Dumbledore has the right idea. It's time to take matters into our own hands, if the Ministry isn't prepared to do what it takes to stop them, I am."

"Me too." James agreed.

"What about you Moony?" I asked looking at Remus who seemed to be thinking very hard.

"I suppose I'd be a coward not to considering what I am, I could be very useful to Dumbledore, and he will always have my loyalty. If it hadn't been for him I wouldn't be here talking to any of you."

"You're a wizard." James said firmly.

"Thank you Prongs, but let's not pretend to ignore the fact that having a werewolf that isn't on Lord Voldemort's side could be very useful to the Order of the Phoenix."

"Wormtail?" I asked looking at him. Out of all of us, Peter had been the only one who hadn't seemed completely on board with the joining the Order. I was just starting to wonder if asking him to come with us had been a mistake when he said.

"I may not be as brave as you guys." He said his voice trembling as he made his decision. "But I want to help."

"That's what we like to hear." James said grinning and Peter looked slightly more relieved. "But Sirius mate." James continued and I registered that he'd used my real name, not my nickname, something he rarely did in private. "I don't think I can keep this from Lily."

"I figured you were going to say that." I said frowning and sitting on my own bed. "I don't care if you tell Lily, but she can't say anything to Hallie."

"I can't just decide for her." He said cautiously.

"Why not?" I asked annoyed.

"Padfoot mate, Hallie is her best friend." Remus said in what was obviously supposed to be an appeasing tone that only angered me further. "She'll want to join, and you can't just expect Lily to keep it from her. Especially if Alice knows. It's not fair-"

"Not fair?" I asked furiously. "Who cares if it's fair? Hallie is my girlfriend not yours Remus, you don't get to make this decision."

"And neither do you." He said sharply. "It's Hallie's choice and Hallie's alone."

"Easy for you to say." I spat acidly, fear causing my rage to peak as I released it on him. "You never cared about her, and while you may not give a damn, I won't be the one who stands by as she walk straight into danger."

"Don't you dare say I don't care about Hallie." Remus said looking angry for the first time in memory. "She is my friend, and has been my friend since before she ever met you, which is why I'm standing up for what I think she would want! And she would want to know the truth! She'd want to be given the chance to fight!"

"And then what, what if she does fight, and something happens to her?" I asked bitterly.

I remembered what Lucius Malfoy had said to her.

"You'll be one of the first to go."

There was a moment of silence as each of them stared at me and I put my head in my hands.

"How could you live with yourself knowing it was all your fault?" my voice broke. "How could you, if you knew you could have stopped it from happening, if you knew you could have done something?"

I closed my eyes, trying to empty my brain, only to have Hallie running through my thoughts. I couldn't stand the thought of loosing her, of letting her join the Order knowing all to well that one day she could be killed because of it.

"I'll ask Lily not to tell Hallie." James said quietly.

"Thank you." I mumbled.

"I can't promise anything, but maybe I can convince her to wait until you're ready to tell her." He continued. "Moony is right Padfoot, you can't hide this from Hallie forever, not if you're serious about her. You can't have secrets."

"Secrets protect people." I said looking up and directly at Remus. "You should know."

He shrugged.

"You can't always protect the people you care about. No matter how much you want to."