It was mid-march when Dumbledore had called Kingsley into his office. He was sure of it. He knew that it was before their Easter exams. Lily and Pandora were already working to get top marks. He had been making fun of them for already stressing when James had told him that Dumbledore wanted to speak to him. He would study of course, but now that he had been accepted into the Auror office, he did not particularly care about his scores. He had actually been teasing Lily for still caring so much after they were both accepted into the program. Lily had thrown her copy of Defense Against the Darkest Art at him. He was glad she missed. He still remembered it all so clearly.

Kingsley Shacklebolt was sitting in his chair at one of the library's many tables; he was leaning back, folding his paper into a paper airplane. Lily and Pandora were sitting with their heads deep in their books. Lily was scribbling down some notes on her parchment. He had just thrown the airplane when he heard Madam Price's shrieking voice

"Mr. Shacklebolt! Put that away before I give you a detention" Lily chuckled had he rolled his eyes.

"It's not that funny Lily," he said

"I told you that you should be studying" She said

"What's the point? I've already been accepted into the Auror Academy. They are not going to revoke it if I get an E instead of an O."

"If you don't study you could also get a T" Pandora said

"I'm not going to get a T, and even if I did, it wouldn't matter. They wouldn't care"

"Lucky you," Lily said dryly

"C'mon Lily, you got accepted too. They won't care if you don't get all Os either" Lily raised her eyebrow.

"You do remember that I'm muggleborn, not a pureblood" Lily said

"Trust me, I understand prejudice, Lily." He said "you forget that racism doesn't just exist in the muggle world or something?" Lily rolled her eyes

"Of course I'm aware that you and James face racism from other purebloods. I'd have to be blind not to, but right now, there is a dark wizard, winning support, who has specific issues with muggleborns."

"I have a hard time believing that Alastor Moody would follow him" Kinglsey said

"Just because he wouldn't doesn't mean his higher ups wouldn't"

"You have no faith in the government's integrity do you?" She made a pointed gesture at him.

"Can you two please just be quiet and stop bickering," Pandora said, not looking up from her book.

"We could stop if Lily got that stick out from her arse and just chill" Kingsley said. Next thing he knew, a copy of Defense Against the Darkest Art was flying at his head. He quickly ducked. The book hit the shelves behind him.

"Wooh, I did not deserve that" He said. Neither of them had noticed Lily's boyfriend walking up to them.

"Well maybe if you could get you're-" James cleared his throat, oblivious to the fact that he was interrupting his girlfriend

"Kings," James said

"What? He asked

"McGonagall just told me to come and find you. She said that Dumbledore wanted to talk to you right away."

"Why?" Kingsley asked

"Don't know, she didn't say" James shrugged

"Maybe you got a T on an exam" Lily teased. Kingsley made the same pointed gesture Lily had only just made at him. He left the library and walked up the stairs to the top floor. He saw a small group of 5th years standing around. He had to guess they were gossiping about something, given the whispers. They saw him walking and he watched them fall dead silent. He rolled his eyes and kept walking up to Dumbledore's office. Kinglsey had been up here many times. The doors open and he stepped inside. He saw Dumbledore siting at his desk. His pet phoenix was sitting at a post, next to the sorting hat.

"You can take a seat if you like, Mr. Shacklebolt," Dumbledore said

"Am I in trouble?" Kingsley asked

"No, not at all" Dumbledore said

"Then why did you call me in?" Kingsley asked

"I wanted to talk to you about the events of the December hogsmeade trip" he said. Kingsley looked bewildered. He had heard about what happened, of course, but he hadn't actually been there.

"Oh, ok, Mary and I were running late. We couldn't find Emiline. Turns out she was just in Zonkos, we were supposed to meet everyone in the three broomsticks, but like I said, we were running late. But by the time we got there, they were already gone."

"What do you think about what happened? Surely you're friends told you." Dumbledore asked

"I mean, I just assumed that James and Sirius were exaggerating," Kingsley said. Dumbledore chuckled lightly

"Yes, that would be very in character for the two of them. I can inform you that your friends did a fine job of standing up for themselves before I arrived."

"Glad to hear it" Kingsley said. There was something weighing on the back of his mind. Dumbledore looking him in the eye. It was almost like Dumbledore read him like a book.

"You want to know if it's true that Lily Evan was hit with the cruciatus curse?" He asked

"Was she?" Kingsley asked

"Voldemort cast it himself" Kingsley felt his face turn to ash. They has seen that spell, in defense against the dark arts. He still remembered the spider screams. He had obviously disliked Voldemort before then, but for the first time, he hated him. Sure he and Lily teased each other, but they were friends. Maybe not best friends, but one his closest.

"I wanted to speak to you in particular, Mr. Shacklebolt because I have another urgent matter to discuss with you."

"What?" Kingsley asked.

"I assume you are aware of the gains that Voldemort has been making."

"Yeah, of course. It's the talk of the school"

"Does that worry you?"

"Yeah, I mean, who wouldn't be? I mean, his group hates muggleborns, half-breeds, gay people."

"And?"

"And probably black people too. Even if they're purebloods" Kingsley admitted

"I would have to agree with your assessment Mr. Shacklebolt. Would you like to be able to do something about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I am creating a group, a group to fight Voldemort and his advancements. I am looking for people to join. Alastor Moody suggested you" Dumbledore said

"Really?" Kingsley asked

"Yes, your name was the first he suggested. Almost without thinking" Dumbledore smiled slightly. "I will not lie to you Mr, Shacklebolt, this will be dangerous. There is no guarantee that we will all see the end of this. You may want to take some time to think about this" he said

"Yeah, I think I should." He said "Can I tell my friends?"

"I would suggest you ask for the input. I'm sure if you want to join, however, they will want to join you"

"Is that why you only felt a need to tell one of us?" Kingsley asked

"Precisely." Later that night, Kingsley Shacklebolt was sitting on his bed, thinking over Dumbledore's proposal. James walked into their dorm, in his full quidditch gear.

"Hey Kings,"

"Hey". James absentmindedly searched in his drawer for something

"What did Dumbledore want to talk to you about anyway" he said off handedly

"He wants me to join a group against Voldemort" Kingsley said

"Your kidding"

"Nope, Moody suggested me. Dumbledore wants me to think it over before I decide. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Don't get me wrong, I want to take Voldemort down but it's dangerous, like getting killed dangerous"

"Geez, that's a lot"

"What would you do if you were me?" Kingsley asked

"I would probably join. The arsehole wants to kill my girlfriend and my brother, probably me too given what happened in December. I guess it would probably be worth the risk for me."

"Well then maybe you should join? They definitely will need good healers"

"But Dumbledore asked you" James said, a little shocked

"He actually asked me, knowing that you guys would hear it from me so he would only have to sit down with one of us"

"So we gonna tell him tomorrow?" James asked. There was a slight smile on his face

"He said to tell him after the break. Guess we should tell the others in the meantime"