VOLUNTEERING

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Remus

"Look, Moony, I'm sorry alright!" Sirius defended after the remaining members of the Order had filed out of the kitchen. "How was I supposed to know that you two were in there?"

"There's this great new method for conserving other people's privacy," I returned in a frustrated tone. "It's called knocking," I emphasized the last word harshly. "Did you see her face?" I scowled. "She looked mortified." I sank down in one of the chairs around the table. "And just when I thought we were starting to get more comfortable around each other again."

"I wouldn't have come in if I knew you were in there," Sirius confessed sympathetically, sitting next to me at the table. "By the way, what were you two doing in there?" he asked with a suggestive raise of his eyebrows.

I waved him off and shook my head furiously. "No," I dismissed, "it wasn't like that. I'd gotten hit in the fight," I explained, "and she was just helping me bandage it up."

Sirius looked slightly disappointed, but remorseful nonetheless. "Sorry," he repeated.

"It's alright," I finally allowed after sighing heavily. "Just promise me you won't bring this up with her again," I requested, hoping to avoid any further awkward situations.

Sirius laughed and stood back up. "Oh no," he smirked as he made his way out of the room. "I've been looking for some good material to use against my cousin for years," he explained impishly. "There's no way I'm going to pass this opportunity up." As he left the room, he flashed me a wide, toothy, very Marauder-esque grin that made my stomach suddenly drop to the floor. I knew that smile. He had plans, and when Sirius Black had plans, no one was safe from his antics.

-oOoOoO-

The first few days went by, almost without a hitch. Sirius was behaving himself (mostly), Tonks seemed to have recovered from our little encounter, and Harry had been cleared of all charges at his trial. It seemed that all was well at Grimmauld Place—well, as well as one can be in the midst of a war.

One day in early September, after all the children had gone to off to Hogwarts, we sat around the long kitchen table for another meeting.

"The disappearances are becoming more frequent," Sturgis piped from across the table.

"He won't keep this up," Hestia calculated from the far end of the kitchen. "Right now he has the element of surprise in his favor. He won't keep kidnapping people at this rate and risk being found out."

"But you forget he has the Ministry and the Prophet also working for him," Emmeline returned. "He knows that they'd rather turn in their wands than acknowledge the possibility that he could be back."

"This is getting us nowhere," Mad-Eye grumbled, hobbling over to the head of the table. "We need to take action. We know where a few Death Eaters are in hiding," he continued. "We need to send them a message that we're willing to fight and stand up to them."

"What exactly are you suggesting, Mad-Eye?" Severus inquired proudly.

"I'm saying that we're not going to get anything done by sitting here, waiting for them to make the first move!" he returned in an aggressive manner, his one good eye fixated on Snape. "The Death Eaters have made their move. Now it's our turn to respond! I say we go in, and send them a message."

"We're not here for violence, Alastor," Dumbledore responded.

"We're in a war!" Mad-Eye screeched. "If we're not here to plan an attack, then what the devil are we here for?"

"There's no need for us to reduce ourselves to their level by killing each other," Dumbledore replied coolly, "at least not yet," he added as a sort of afterthought.

"I think Mad-Eye's right to some extent," Tonks insisted. "We have to do something. We can't just sit here and let them keep abducting innocent people."

"Maybe we should do a stakeout," Kingsley suggested. "We do know the location of a few Death Eaters. We could watch them—see what they're up to, and if that'll lead to any master plans."

"It would certainly delay an attack and any bloodshed," Dedalus agreed.

"And if we found out their overarching scheme," Hestia began, "we could be able to stop them more quickly." Several approving murmurs echoed around the table.

"It certainly does seem to be our best plan," Dumbledore acquiesced, "but would anyone be willing to carry out the surveillance?"

After several moments of silence, Tonks' hand slowly moved into the air. "Thank you, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore acknowledged as she lowered her hand. "Would anyone else volunteer to go with her?" He was met with silence.

"Moony'll do it, won't you, Moony?" Sirius suddenly volunteered enthusiastically from my right. I turned to him in surprise. "After all," he continued as he nudged me jokingly in the side, "I know how close he and Tonksie are. I'm sure they'll work great together," he finished with a mischievous grin.

I felt my ears begin to burn red, and the heat began to flow down my face. Across from me, I could see Tonks' hair glow into a deeper pink. A few uncomfortable laughs resonated around the table before Dumbledore spoke again. "Would you be willing to go with Tonks, Remus?"

I shot Tonks a sympathetic look before turning back to Dumbledore, "Of course, sir," I agreed hoarsely.

"Great, I'll send you two a message later with the coordinates," he returned. "Now, if there's nothing else anyone wishes to discuss, I think we could all use a well-deserved break. We'll meet again next Thursday at eight o'clock." With that, everyone dispersed into various areas of the house. I turned to my right, ready to berate Sirius for saying that in front of the entire Order, but to my dismay, he had already shot up from the table with the excuse that it was time to feed Buckbeak.

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