The next few days saw the kitchen more thoroughly cleaned, the Weasley family settled in, and the cleaning of the first guest room completed – a room next to Remus's on the second floor and a few doors down from Molly and Arthur, and also the last room that only needed a thorough deep cleaning and not forcible removal of unwanted inhabitants. Sirius was dreading the beginning of what, as Remus had begun calling it, "the real work." Molly had mainly kept the children working in other areas of the house away from Sirius since their first day; he expected she still needed to become more familiar with him and the fact that he actually wasn't a murderer, so he hadn't yet pushed the issue.
It had been a week since Albus's last visit, and he was expected again that day, bringing food, cleaning supplies, and more furnishings for the rooms. Molly beat Sirius to the doorbell which was just as well because his mother's portrait began to scream again and he and Arthur ran to close it. Remus had told the Weasley's the full story of the portrait; it had been quiet again since their arrival. Sirius wondered what had set it off this time. He and Arthur descended to see not one but two men in the entryway with Molly.
"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt. Kingsley, may I introduce Arthur Weasley and Sirius Black," said Albus as he began pulling things out of his pockets and handing them to Molly. Kingsley approached Sirius and shook his hand. Sirius was very close to six feet tall but Kingsley towered over him; he would have been intimidated if it weren't for the calming, reassuring energy that radiated from the man. "Sirius, what a pleasure to finally meet you. I work at the Ministry of Magic; I've been facilitating the hunt to capture you for the last few years. I figured a lot of it out myself before Albus approached me – in fact I believe that's why he approached me, he could see I had a lot of questions and there were no answers. It was a relief to hear it all explained. I should be useful to you now; I am able to tell Minister Fudge that you're far away from where you actually reside." Sirius couldn't believe his ears; only Albus would manage to find the very man who had been searching for him and recruit him to the Order. "That's – that's a fantastic story, and I'm so glad you were questioning the Ministry's side of things when Albus found you," said Sirius, grinning broadly. He looked incredulously at Remus, who was standing next to him; Remus just shook his head, also grinning. "Only Albus," he said.
They made their way to the kitchen after Kingsley had been introduced all round. "Ah, this looks so much better! Fine work everyone," said Albus, taking in the room. The kitchen was still dark and oppressive – Sirius wasn't sure if anything could be done about that really – but all of the space was clean and usable. The pots hanging about the table had not been touched and were still black with filth, but once you had a few meals there and really got used to the room Sirius had to admit you barely noticed them.
Once Arthur and Molly had put away the food stuffs Albus had brought and the children had been sent upstairs to work on furnishing the new guest room, the four adults, Albus and Kingsley sat down around the table. There had been some discussion as to whether all the chairs needed to be fixed; looking around, Sirius realized there were only six spares now, and they might actually need more if Albus was truly going to continue recruiting. The doorbell rang again.
Sirius jumped up and shot a startled look at Remus, who looked equally unsure, and then Albus, who was smiling calmly. "Our final two members, I don't doubt, if you could let them in Sirius. Oh, and the portrait, oh dear. Shall I?" For Mrs. Black had begun to scream again. Remus headed for the portrait and Sirius to the door. His blood ran cold as he looked out, but he had no choice but to open the door and let Minerva and Snape into the house.
Minerva greeted him civilly. She had never been a warm and welcoming type anyways, and he knew there was nothing meant behind her brusque nod and quirk of the lips in his direction as she stepped into the house. Snape, on the other hand, gave him a look so filthy that Kreacher ought to have been there to take lessons. Sirius fought the urge to flip Snape the bird and led them down to the kitchen. A moment later Remus returned, and now they were eight.
"Splendid!" Albus crowed, once Snape and Minerva had been introduced to Kingsley. "This is officially the full membership of the revived Order of the Phoenix. I have several others I have reached out to who served with us last time, several more brand new recruits, like Kingsley here, and we also have Arabella Figg on our side, though she doesn't like travel and since her duties are limited to surveillance of Harry while he is in Little Whinging, she said she doesn't mind being filled in by myself after our meetings take place." Sirius hadn't realized they were having an official meeting today, but Albus went on. "Now, this wasn't exactly a planned meeting – none of you knew of it, I mean – but we need to have a sort of swearing in ceremony for everyone and also must begin getting some plans in place for guard duty both at the Ministry and in Little Whinging, and there's no time like the present, so I thought we would take advantage of all being here today."
"Swearing in?" asked Arthur. "A way to make sure all information stays within the Order, I imagine?" "Exactly right," said Albus, beaming at him. "I have created a sort of form of the Unbreakable Vow. Instead of being between two people, this can be used to hold all of you accountable at the same time. As new members are added, they will agree to the same rules and same binding. And it will also not cause instant death if it is broken. What it will do, though, is bring the breaker of the vow directly to me, regardless of where they are or what enchantments may have been laid upon them. Their wand will be deposited directly to my possession, and they will await their fate there. This I found to be much preferable to instant death, as the Order will then know who has betrayed them, and I can also choose their punishment. If it is an innocent mistake, their life can be spared." Albus's eyes were stormy and Sirius knew that if someone were not innocent, though they might not be killed, their fate would also not be a pleasant one.
"Now then, this vow is made of three parts just as an Unbreakable one is. What you must do is repeat each part after me, as I perform the required magic. We can test it after, if you like, though I'm sure it is quite sound. Any questions?" There was silence; Sirius looked around the table. Molly looked set and resolved, Minerva ready to do battle. Kingsley appeared calm and reserved; Sirius wondered how much Albus had told him in advance. He wasn't sure if he would be ready to make a vow to join a secret order ten minutes after walking through the door.
"Then let's get started. The first part is quite simple. Put your left hands in towards the middle of the table please." Seven hands almost but didn't quite meet in the middle of the large table. Sirius was glad Snape was on the end and their hands were nowhere near each other. He forced his thoughts back to what Albus was saying. "Repeat after me, with the same exact wording." He tapped each of their hands in turn, leaning over Arthur so that he could reach each one. "I vow to serve the Order of the Phoenix in whatever way required and to aid in the fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, until my death." They repeated. Sirius felt oddly detached, as if he weren't really pledging his life away. He was imprisoned here anyway, so who cared?
"Now the second vow. I vow to keep all information that pertains to the Order of the Phoenix, no matter how small or irrelevant, confined to members of the Order. This includes the whereabouts of members, any plans or schedules that pertain to the Order, and the whereabouts of Headquarters." They repeated. Albus was making complicated wand movements.
"The final part now. The only time these vows can be broken is if given permission by Albus Dumbledore himself. In absence of permission, I vow to uphold these standards until my death."
Dark stuff, really, he thought to himself as he repeated with everyone else. Albus tapped all their hands again and the light in the room, if possible, dimmed even more for a second as a cord of light appeared binding all their hands together and then slowly dissolved into nothingness. "Thank you everyone!" Albus exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "I know it seems very dark to promise these things, but as we welcome more members to the fold we will want to have these standards already set. Now, on to business."
The outcome of the meeting was that shifts to watch Harry would begin the following day. There would be three shifts per day, eight hours each, and Sirius was not to go, even though he would be invisible the entire time. Shifts at the Ministry on guard duty for what Dumbledore called "something important in the Hall of Prophecy that I will provide further information on in the coming weeks" would be the same, and Sirius was not to be of assistance for those either. Dumbledore conjured schedules for each and people began to sign up to fill slots each week.
Remus took an eight hour shift each day, citing lack of a real job and the ability to have a shifting sleep schedule. Minerva and Snape would have taken every midnight shift available, but Albus made them both take at least one night per week off. Molly took as many day shifts as Albus would let her have, and Arthur as many afternoons. Albus stopped them both at five a week and told them they needed to still have time with their younger children while on holiday. He himself took whatever remained, and said he would have Arabella Figg fill a few shifts for watching Harry as well. "I have one young recruit who is eager to work, she should be able to take some of these in the next few weeks so things will get lighter for all of us. Right now though this is excellent and will provide the protection needed to see us through to a more robust schedule" said Albus, smiling happily. He turned to Sirius next.
"Although you are unable to help us with this Sirius," Sirius saw Snape smirk and fought the urge to stab him through the throat with the nearest sharp object, "Molly and Arthur will require your help with keeping the children busy during their summer holidays. They can help you with the cleaning of the house. You can also help by cooking meals and having them ready at shift changes, and making sure all within the house runs smoothly." "Goody," said Sirius, without really thinking. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. "I mean, of course Headmaster, I'll see that it's done," he said quietly. "Thank you Sirius. Your work here will be more important than you know."
The meeting adjourned and Albus, the teachers and Kingsley left. Remus tried to placate Sirius the same way Albus had, telling him that this work too was important and necessary. But what was bothering Sirius even more was the fact that Remus had come to stay in the house with him, but would now be gone for nearly sixty hours a week. Albus had lied, and he had known he was lying to Sirius right from the beginning. Sirius had come to depend on Remus's company, his comfort, his quiet kind words that always came just at the right time and now he was to play nursemaid while Remus left. Nothing was fair.
The next few weeks were hell for them all. Sirius was cranky and upset because of the arrangements with Remus's schedule; he left the children to complete all of their summer holiday homework, cooked shabby meals that were ready at eight in the morning, four in the afternoon and midnight each day, and did nothing else. He was fairly sure the children's opinion of him had shifted to something much less favorable than their first impression, but couldn't much bring himself to care. All the other occupants of the house were far too busy and tired with guard duty to keep an eye on Sirius or the children; Remus was constantly exhausted. Finally on the thirtieth of June, one of Albus's Patronuses arrived in the kitchen. Even its voice – Albus's voice – sounded exhausted; he had as many guard shifts each week as Remus did. "The Order will meet tomorrow, July first, to induct two new members. Please be prepared at four o'clock."
Sirius could only hope, as he tried to plan a real meal and not just sausage and mash for the umpteenth time that week, that these new members would be highly interested in guarding the Hall of Prophecy.