A/N Well once again I must apologise for the long gap between chapters, it's been stressful starting college and all that but here it is...

anyway, here you go and I do apologise for the wait.

I hope you enjoy

Disclaimer - I own nothing, it all belongs to the wonderful Jo

Please feel free to review;)

Chapter Thirty-six

Marlene had never been in Dumbledore's office before so she didn't feel as comfortable as the marauders appeared to be. Lily was shaking like a leaf as they climbed the staircase to the headmasters office and James kept whispering soothing things to her.

McGonagall was giving nothing away with her grim expression and when she stopped in from of the door which Marlene presumed to be Dumbledore's, she turned and left them, still wearing an expression which hinted strongly at disapproval.

Before any of them could knock, a voice from inside said "please come in."

They all trailed inside, staring around meekly, fully believing they had entered into some sort of punishment. The first thing that Marlene's eyes fell upon however, made them widen in surprise.

"Alice? Frank?" Lily said, echoing Marlene's astonishment. "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

Alice shrugged and patted the seat next to her, "no idea, we were waiting for you lot."

Marlene now took in Dumbledore, sitting behind his desk, observing them all with an amused smile on his face and his eyes twinkling behind his glasses. He gestured with his wand and six more seats appeared, "sit, please and we can talk."

"What are we talking about sir?" James asked warily.

"Oh, various things Mr Potter - for example, the weather is very mild for February don't you think?" Dumbledore pressed the tips of his fingers together and leaned forwards in his chair towards them as James smirked. "I would like to talk to you about what has happened this year. And what will happen when you leave this school and venture out into the wide world."

Marlene sat down and tried to calm her beating heart. She wondered if any of the others were thinking the same as her. Glancing across at them, she saw that they all had their gazes fixed on the headmaster.

"All of you have been through quite a lot this year and in various ways, you have proven yourself worthy of the information I'm about to entrust you with. All I ask is that what is said in this room, stays here and you don't discuss these matters with anyone other than yourselves. Do I have your word?" He looked at them through his half moon glasses and Marlene shivered when the intensity of his gaze met hers. She nodded slowly, almost unaware that the others were doing the same around her.

"Good," Dumbledore leaned back in his seat. "I've called you all here for a very special reason. As you may know, outside the walls of this school there is a war massing and I need to know whose support I can trust in."

Marlene jumped as the flames in the fireplace roared up green and blue. A figure landed on the carpet and got to his feet with help of a wooden staff. "Bloody floo powder," he grumbled and raised his head to look at them all.

Mad Eye Moody stared around at the students in front of him. "Well Dumbledore?" He growled in his rough voice. "Are these the ones?"

"Yes, Alastor" Dumbledore said calmly. "These are the students who fought the Death Eaters back in February."

Moody limped towards them slowly, not taking his eyes from Marlene and her friends, "they'll do," he said finally, "when do they start?"

"Start what?" James and Sirius both spoke at the same time.

"It is your choice of course Mr Potter," the headmaster said, "but you all showed great courage and level minded ness in Hogsmead and we need those sort of people on our side. I would like to extend an offer of joining the resistance, I think you know of what I'm speaking of."

"The Order of the Phoenix," Remus said. He suddenly looked worried and everted his eyes from everyone in the room.

James and Sirius exchanged a brief glance then both nodded. "We'll join," James said, indicating him and Sirius.

Marlene looked at Sirius, then at the rest of her friends and hesitated. "Marley?" Sirius said quietly, "I thought this was what you wanted?"

Marlene swallowed and opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by Moody. "McKinnon?" He growled and moved towards her until he was standing only feet away. "Your Marcus' little sister aren't you?"

Marlene nodded, "yes sir."

Moody looked pleased, "I worked with him before the attack, he was a good fighter. Constant vigilance!"

Marlene grit her teeth against the nerves and stood up straighter, "he is a good fighter sir. He's not dead yet."

Mad Eyed Moody's one real eye narrowed ever so subtly but he just nodded his head.

Marlene turned to Dumbledore and said slowly, "I'll join as well."

The headmaster inclined his head but Marlene could tell he was pleased.

"So will I," Lily said quietly, almost shyly. "Muggleborns won't have a place in the world that You-Know-Who is trying to make... Someone needs to stop him."

"As will me and Alice," Frank said quietly. They exchanged looks and Alice nodded slightly.

"It will be dangerous," Dumbledore said quietly.

James frowned, "I think we all know that sir, it won't stop us either way."

"Professor," Peter squeaked from behind James. "I'll join as well, just so long as I don't have to do much fighting."

"I'm sure we could find a place for you Mr Pettigrew," the headmaster said smiling at him kindly.

James turned around and patted Peter on the back. Sirius on the other hand was frowning in confusion at Remus who was the only one who hadn't spoken yet.

Remus avoided his gaze and said quietly, "can I speak to you a minute professor?" He glanced around at his friends confused faces then back at the headmaster and added "alone?"

Dumbledore looked surprised for a moment then quickly recovered. "Of course you can Mr Lupin, if you could stay here." He turned to the others. "If you could return to your dorms for the present, I shall issue further instructions in due time."

James and Sirius both looked like they were going to protest, their eyes on Remus who was refusing to meet their gazes.

"Come on," Lily murmured, taking James' arm and leading him from the room, followed by the rest of them. It was only once they were alone in the corridor that both boys broke out in speech.

"What the hell was that?!" Sirius growled, "he doesn't want to join up does he?"

"Remus has more reason than most to join the Order and all the more reason to be wary of it at the same time," Lily snapped at him then took a deep breath. "You know, because of the fact he's a werewolf," she added in a hushed voice.

The reaction was instantaneous. The marauders all stared at her in shock, Alice and Frank let out exclamations of surprise and Marlene shook her head in amazement. She knew Lily wouldn't have taken long to guess what Remus was but from the looks on Alice and Frank's faces, they definitely hadn't known.

"What do you mean?" Sirius said suspiciously, glaring at James who put his hands up and shrugged.

"Oh come on!" Lily snapped, "I'm not stupid - and before you say it, James did not tell me!"

Sirius relaxed and Marlene squeezed his arm gently telling him to calm down. She knew he was very protective of his friends but Remus wasn't in any danger from these people.

"You knew?" Lily asked Marlene, raising an eyebrow.

Marlene nodded, "I worked it out earlier this year. You're right, it's not that difficult."

"Wait, so Remus is a werewolf?" Alice asked, her face pale.

The marauders all glanced at each other then gave stiff nods.

"Oh merlin," Alice breathed quietly. "The poor thing."

"But don't you get it?" Lily said turning back to James and Sirius. "If he joins the Order, he'll have to give his medical background to them, everyone will have to know about his condition so no one is put in danger by it."

Marlene was beginning to understand, "so your saying that that's what he's talking to Dumbledore about?"

Lily shrugged, "I'm only guessing."

"That sounds reasonable," James said after a moments silence. "I think we could all do with some sleep now, let's get back to the common room."

The others nodded and murmured their agreement before following him.

"I can't believe that," Sirius muttered as him and Marlene sat next to each other on the sofa. The others had all gone up to bed one by one until it was just them two left.

"You can't believe what?" Marlene asked quietly, half asleep with her face pressed against his chest.

"Dumbledore just offered that to us all, I don't know how he can have such trust in us straight away."

Marlene lifted her head slightly and thought for a moment. "He's seen us grow up from age eleven Sirius, I don't think he would've made the decision lightly."

Sirius shifted so they were sitting up. "If we do this Marley, it'll change things... For the rest of our lives."

Marlene frowned, "for good though, if we can help make the world a better place."

"I know this is what you want," Sirius said, "but..." He trailed off, looking at a loss for what to say. He drew in a breath then let it out shakily. "I want to join the order too, believe me when I say that but I feel like we're at a crossroad. We won't have normal lives if we go down one path and there is a possibility we could make this world a better place or we could leave it to others and probably live longer."

"What are you saying?" Marlene asked, placing a hand on his face. "You don't want to join do you? I knew it, I - "

"Marlene what are you talking about?" Sirius said, cutting her off. "Of course I want to join the order, more than anything but I need to make sure it's what you want too!"

Marlene opened her mouth for a second then closed it again. Before she knew it, a giggle had escaped from her lips and she started laughing.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, "you're laughing, why are you laughing?"

"Is that your only reason?" Marlene chuckled.

"Erm, yes?"

Marlene shook her head, still chuckling and leaned her forehead against his. "This is what I want Sirius," she murmured.

Sirius smiled and pressed a kiss to her mouth lightly, "love you."

Marlene grinned, "I know."

The portrait hole opened and both of them turned to see Remus stepping through into the common room. He stopped when he saw them and looked embarrassed. "Sorry, don't mind me."

"Moony, what was that all about?" Sirius said, ignoring his friends previous statement.

"Can we talk about this in the morning Sirius, I want to go to bed." Remus said, his shoulders sagging as he rubbed his eyes.

Sirius shrugged, "sure, but Moony?"

Remus looked up at him tiredly. "Yeah?"

Sirius grinned, "you know me and James'll back you right?"

Remus' tired face brightened into a grin, "always."

A/N again I offer my deepest apologies for keeping you waiting for so long. Awfully sorry!

I hope you enjoyed that and you can show it by pressing that review button! X