Serena and Kingsley shared a lazy Sunday morning in bed, but the panic of the night before hung over them.

"You've changed so much," Kingsley said eventually, as she lay with her head on his shoulder and her fingertips tracing the lines of his muscular body. She tilted her head up to him, but was relieved to find a small smile on his lips.

"Oh?"

Kingsley thought hard before he spoke, as he always did, and when his words came out they were slow and precise. "In some ways… you have become the woman I always hoped you would…"

"That sounds creepy," she mumbled against his shoulder. She didn't like being reminded of how young she had been when they had first got together.

He gave a low rumble of a chuckle. "You have kept your sharp intelligence, but you have lost your arrogance… you have kept your kindness, and accepted your origins… you have learnt to trust, where before you couldn't…" Kingsley hesitated, but Serena felt his emotions and lifted up slightly, looking down on his face properly.

"What is it, babe?"

Again, Kingsley thought before he spoke. "It was a surprise, a pleasant surprise, for me last night to see you trust someone so openly with something so intimate"

Serena understood and gave a slow nod, before settling back down on his shoulder and resuming her caresses. "It took me years to trust you… and when I left you I found myself so alone. I didn't have anyone to confide in. It's taken me a long time, and I still don't trust just anyone, but I've found friends this year that I've never had before. Being able to spend time with Remus or being in Severus' company has done me so much good.

"I can see now that what happened last night must have seen so strange to you, but Severus and I have been practising contact legilimency for a while now, it was the least dangerous way for us to work, and last night it just came to me as the most natural thing to do."

"I am proud of you," he said stroking her hair softly. "I admit, last night I didn't quite know how to react, but I am so proud of you and of who you have become."

Serena felt his love surround her and she pulled him closer still, closing her eyes and thanking god for bringing them back together.

…

That evening, as Kingsley had started his rounds, Serena walked down to Severus' classroom, a thick black coat with furry edges wrapped around her. She didn't know when, but Severus had changed his wards, and the classroom door now opened for her without her having to knock.

She strolled through the empty classroom towards his kitchen. "Severus?"

He emerged from his rooms, pulling his left sleeve down, an action that did not go unmissed by Serena.

"Is everything ok?" she asked, her tone suddenly serious.

He scowled at her, and stormed past to his store cupboard. "Everything is fine, and even if it wasn't it's not of your business," he snapped.

Serena merely raised her eyebrows and waited for him to come back out. He emerged a few seconds later with a small vial in his hand.

"What's going on?" she asked again, following him around the other side of his desk, where he began scribbling instructions on a neat piece of parchment. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Of course not," he snapped, "this isn't a councelling session Professor Lake, you are here to learn the arts of the mind."

He dropped his quill, rolled up the parchment and attached it to the vial with a wave of his wand. He left the potion on his desk and rounded the other side, taking out his wand and sending her an impatient glare.

"Severus, you're clearly-"

"Clear your mind!" he ordered, his black cape billowing behind him when he moved.

"Wait, I can't-"

"Focus!" he snapped. "Legilimens!"

Serena staggered backwards from the force of his spell, she pushed everything she had at him, but she only managed to keep him out for ten seconds and her thoughts and memories of the last few days came flooding to the front of her mind.

Severus withdrew his spell abruptly as images of Kingsley Shacklebolt filled his mind.

"Wait, wait!" she panted, holding up a hand. "I need time to clear my mind."

"You're not even trying!" he growled.

"I'm trying my fucking hardest, I can't-"

"Can't or won't?" he interrupted angrily.

"What's that supposed to-"

"You've got your result," he snapped, "you've got your potion and now you're wasting my time:"

"I'd never waste your time-"

"Then prepare yourself! Legilimens!"

Serena barely blocked him for five seconds, her mind was whirring with thoughts and emotions and once again Severus was flashed with a vision of her and Kingsley in bed that morning.

He withdrew within a heartbeat, disgusted by it.

"You're pathetic!"

"You're not giving me time!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air, her anger boiling close to the surface.

"And do you think the Death Eaters will give you time to clear your mind?!"

"Not all of them, but this fucking one will have to!"

There was a flash of light and she gasped from the force that hit her, her body tensed for impact as she was thrown through the air and hit the wall of the classroom behind her. She groaned from her awkward position on the floor and spotted Severus disappearing into his quarters, the door slamming behind him.

She didn't move for a while, her shoulder throbbed, and she could feel sticky blood on the back of her elbow. She closed her eyes and within a few moments she had heeled herself and the pain subsided. Severus was hurting, she realised. He was angry, something had clearly happened, and he didn't have any outlet for his emotions. He clearly wasn't one to share his problems, but she was his friend and she needed to try and help him.

She slowly stood up, wincing slightly as her body straightened. She picked up her wand from where it had fallen and looked towards the closed door. He had overreacted, but she had been wrong to call him a Death Eater. She grimaced and knocked lightly on the door, before opening it.

When there was no answer, she pushed it open, sure that if he really didn't want to see her then he would have warded it shut. She walked through the empty kitchen to where the door to the living room lay open. Severus was sitting in his armchair, a book in his hand, as though nothing had happened. She summoned a chair from the kitchen and sat down opposite him. He ignored her completely.

"I'm sorry I said that," she said softly. "I was completely out-of-order. I only said it out of anger."

Severus said nothing but his book snapped shut.

She tried again, "I know that there's a lot going on with you right now, and I'm sorry I've added stress to that, last night and this evening, but… you're my friend, and I find it difficult to see you like this without being able to do anything."

"Like what?" he said sharply, looking at her with his eyes that seemed even darker than usual.

"Stressed, angry, unhappy."

He scoffed, "and when, do you think, have I ever been happy?"

She paused for a long moment, thinking about her answer. "I think… you've been in a better place than where you are right now."

"Stop pretending you care," he snapped.

"But I do," she said softly, looking down at her hands, frustrated that she couldn't prove it to him. She sighed. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Ok… Then can I come back next Sunday for a real lesson?"

He glared at her for a long moment and then gave a curt nod.

"Alright," she said sadly, standing up and walking to the door. "Take care."

He nodded once, watching her disappear from the corner of his eye. "Dammit Severus," he muttered to himself angrily. "Pull yourself together."

…

"Oh my god, are you seriously asking me that?" Serena collapsed into peels of laughter. It was Tuesday evening and she was sharing a bottle of wine with Remus on his sofa. She liked his rooms, there was lots of dark wood and interesting creatures that sat in the corners of his living room. A niffler was scurrying around the kitchen, collecting knives and forks, and a small green bird perched on top of his mantle piece, occasionally bursting into song.

"Well, is it just a stereotype of is it true?" he asked again, a grin on his face.

She laughed again, "ok, ok, but if Kingsley ever learns that we had this conversation…" she shook her head, still laughing. "Well, let's just say, the first time I saw it I didn't know whether to run for the hills or to get on my knees and thank God!"

Remus laughed loudly. "I bet you did get on your knees-"

She gave him a friendly slap on the arm. "That's enough!" she giggled. "Anyway, what about you? When was your last relationship?"

"Oof," Remus snorted, "at least five years ago. Being a werewolf strangely doesn't have the same attraction…"

"Oh come on, times are changing after all," she said lightly. "Plus, you've still got your good looks."

He chuckled and rubbed his hair. "Hmph."

"What's your type anyhow? I've sensed a slight preference for the male kind…"

Remus' cheeks tinged pink and Serena gave his hand a squeeze. "Come on, don't be shy."

He gave a mischievous smile, "Well, after what you've just told me, I guess I wouldn't say no to a big, black-"

"Remus!" she squealed, hitting him again and taking another sip of her wine. At that moment a loud knock resonated around the room.

Remus frowned and checked his watch. "It's almost nine. That's the resonating charm from my office door." He stood up. "Wait here, it wouldn't be good if the students found us together, you know what they're like."

Serena nodded and watched Remus disappear through his rooms.

He came back a minute later. "It was Minerva," he explained, pulling on a cloak. "We have to go to Albus' office, he's calling an emergency meeting, apparently there has been Death Eater activity."

Serena set her glass down and stood up, pulling on her light cream robe that she had arrived with.

"Do you have any sober-up?" she asked, pulling on her trainers.

"Good point." Remus disappeared into his bathroom and came back with two small vials of sober-up potion that they drank, before heading up to Albus' office.

Albus' office was crowded. They found Albus, Severus, Minerva, Pomona, Sybil, Poppy, Hagrid and Kingsley and Dawlish, the former of whom winked at Serena. Her and Remus shuffled into the crowded room, and the tones hushed as Albus began to speak.

"Good evening, I am so sorry to call you all away from your evening activities, but needs must," he said gravely. "We have information that the known remaining Death Eaters are reforming and are planning retaliation against the school, the ministry, and other buildings connected with the magical community. We believe the prisoner Dracona Kelly may have sparked this reassembly."

Albus waited as there were hushed whispered and little sounds of shock amongst his staff.

"Our information is that Kelly wishes to attack the school or the village soon. I must therefore ask you to be as vigilant as possible. Visits to Hogsmeade and hereby suspended for all students, and I wish the Heads of Houses to repeat the rules of curfew to all students tomorrow."

"Have there been any sightings? Pomona asked in a hushed voice.

"Of sorts," Albus said vaguely.

"How many Death Eaters are we talking about?" Minerva asked seriously.

"Around a dozen."

"Has the Order of the Phoenix been assembled?" Kingsley asked, quietly.

"Not yet, I thought it prudent to keep the information restricted so as not to cause panic."

"Where has this information come from?" Sybil asked. "How do we know it is not just scaremongering?"

"I can assure you, the information comes from a source I would trust with my life."

"Only someone on the inside could have such information," Dawlish interrupted, "someone in contact with Death Eaters."

From the corner of her eye, Serena saw Severus shift ever so slightly. He was standing in the shadows of the room, slightly apart from everyone else. His face was stony and his eyes were glassy, as though his mind was elsewhere. It was him, she realised, he was spying for Dumbledore again. He must have been with the Death Eaters on Friday night, and the news certainly explained his foul mood.

"I assure you, Mister Dawlish, that the information we have received is one hundred percent trustworthy."

"Can anyone in contact with Death Eaters really be trustworthy?" Dawlish countered. "Couldn't we be being duped?'

Albus replied calmly to the questions concerning his spy's loyalty, but Serena focussed on Severus, whose expression remained calm, but whose fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were strained white.

She tried to catch his eye, to reassure him, or to at least show him that she understood that it was him, but his eyes stared unseeingly past her. Instead, she gathered all of her feelings of strength and reassurance in her head and tried to push them towards him with her mind, just trying to convey some sense of support.

Severus jumped violently and his face conveyed an expression of pure shock for a split second. Several heads turned towards him at his sudden movement, and he caught himself just in time, plastering a scowl across his face and ignoring them all once more.

Then, slowly, he turned his head a fraction of a centimetre at a time until his eyes slowly connected with Serena's. He stared at her with shock, then wonder, and then, slowly, his face filled with anger until he was glaring openly at her.

She swallowed and looked away. Clearly, she had done something, but it hadn't had the effect she had wanted at all.

Albus dismissed them all, but asked Serena and Kingsley to stay back. Severus stayed in the shadows, not saying anything and no longer looking at her.

"Serena," Albus said warmly, grasping her hand tightly. She could feel his overbearing worry and was glad when he let go of her hand. "I have been talking with several people, we would like to initiate you into the Order of the Phoenix. If ever we do need to assemble everyone, we would quite like you in the inner circle meetings."

Serena smiled widely. "Really? Yes, of course, there is nothing I'd like more."

Kingsley gave her a small smile.

"Mister Shacklebolt has accepted to be your mentor. When joining the order there are several steps, the revelation of our Headquarters and a safehouse designated to you; a secrecy charm linked to a potion, and an unbreakable vow. If you are quite ready, we shall do these steps now?"

Serena nodded eagerly, trying to absorb the information Albus was saying, and also trying to show Kingsley how happy she was.

The first stage was very simple, Albu merely passed her a piece of paper with two addresses to memorise, before she put the paper into the fire. Then, he cast a spell over her and she drank a potion, noticing Severus' handwriting on the side of the bottle. The third stage was slightly more nerve-wracking as she had never taken an unbreakable vow in her life, but it was soon over and she felt the magic settle over her body.

"And there you go!" Albus said cheerfully. "All done! Now, off to bed and get some rest! Pip pip!"

Serena couldn't help but chuckle as her and Kingsley descended the moving staircase together. "Did you suggest that?" she asked, smiling widely at him.

"I did," he said quietly, "especially after you talked about the Defence League and being an auror, but I can assure you I am not the only person who asked Albus, I believe Snape had already brought up the idea."

"Snape?" she said in an incredulous voice. "That man really is full of surprises. Gosh, Kings, thank you!"

He laughed again, "It was a very easy decision, I assure you. Now, I should bid you good night, Professor Lake." He gave a small bow and winked at her, before walking towards his rooms. It was her turn to pass through her office and floo powder over to his quarters.

She had just started walking towards her office when she sensed several charms wave over her and a presence approaching quickly behind her, she didn't have time to take out her wand as she was pushed roughly against the wall and found a wand jammed against her throat.

She couldn't move. His left forearm forced her body against the stone wall and his right hand jabbed his wand into her neck. She was proud to feel the knife in her right hand pressing slightly into his stomach. He was breathing heavily, staring at her with too many emotions behind his dark eyes.

"What. Just. Happened." he spat through gritted teeth. Serena pulled a face and looked at his wand. He took another deep breath and slowly stepped back, his wand still clutched tightly in his hand.

Serena vanished the small knife that she had made appear in a heartbeat and straightened her robes, looking around the corridor carefully. She sensed Severus had already placed privacy charms around them before he had attacked her.

"I don't know," she said eventually, in a quiet voice. "I'll tell you what I tried to do though and maybe you can calm down a bit," she added with indignation. "I know it's you, I know your role, and I could see the effect it had on you, everyone questioning your information like that… But I couldn't catch your eye, so I just sort of gathered everything that I wanted to show you and shoved it towards your mind. I didn't know it would actually do anything."

Severus looked at her curiously, his eyebrows scrunched up in reflection and his lips slightly apart.

"You sent me emotions?" he seemed to say to himself.

She nodded.

Severus thought for long moments. He had been so angry, in Albus' office, to see those dimwits questioning his information, as if they knew any better. They clearly didn't know how many times he'd saved their stupid lives in the war, nor what he risked getting that information. He had been using all his self-control to not snap at them, when he'd suddenly been overwhelmed with a warm, calm feeling of reassurance and strength. He knew it came from her, as sure as anything, he could feel her warmth, almost smell her smell from the feelings that wrapped around his mind like a mental hug.

He had been frozen with shock. He was a master Occlumens, and yet he had never before heard of people passing emotions through a connection, like so, or the more so as he had not been expecting it. Sometimes, with other legilimens, like Albus, they communicated silently by pushing certain thoughts to the forefront of their minds and letting the other read that thought, but they had never conveyed feelings… He had been running the moment through his head over and over, trying to grasp that feeling of her in his mind once again, but he couldn't. He was torn, this was a completely new type of magic, that he was hungry to explore, but at the same time, he was furious, she had already invaded his mind enough, without adding this to the package too.

"Say something," she said finally, "what happened for you?"

Severus' nostrils flared and his lips pressed together tightly. "What you wished, I suppose."

She nodded slowly. "Well that's a relief… I'm sorry if I surprised you."

Severus looked at her incredulously and then smoothed his face to his usual mask.

"Not at all," he said shortly. "I was merely off my guard. If you could refrain from entering my mind in the future-"

"Of course," she said quickly, "I'm sorry, I just… I just wanted you to know that we weren't all thinking the same thing in there…"

Severus gave a curt nod, but didn't break his gaze away from hers. He had a strange glitter in his eyes that she did not recognise. Even after all these months his eyes still held mysteries.

"Good night, Professor Lake," he said suddenly, and within a flash he was gone.

Serena walked slowly down to her room, taking a moment to clear her mind, before stepping through the fire to her lover's arms.