A stunned silence filled the room, and then, slowly, the man who'd been talking to the old woman said, "We're starting the Order again, Albus?"

"Yes, Mundugus," said Dumbledore gravely. "Matters are that urgent."

"Order?" said Harry quietly. "What Order?"

I was puzzled, too, until I caught sight of Fawkes sleeping on his perch. Then I understood. Harry, on the other hand, didn't. Dumbledore caught sight of his puzzled expression and said, "Ah, yes. Harry, Emerald, Luke-" he motioned to the boy next to the door "- you're here because we feel like you are trustworthy enough to be part of the Order. If you'll please come up here-"

Harry and I rose up out of our seats, and so did Luke. With his head raised, I could see that he had clear hazel eyes.

Dumbledore pulled open an old wooden casket on his desk and withdrew a dusty, rolled-up piece of parchment that glowed softly. He held it out in front of the three of us.
"This is the Light," he said solemnly. "It is the most sacred item to wizards, aside from the Dark. It is so sacred that to swear by it means you are whole-heartedly dedicated to something. Now, each of you place a hand on it."

As one, we placed our hands on the Scroll. A tingling sensation spread up my arm.

"This is the oath that binds you to the Order," said Dumbledore. "Only recite it if your heart and soul are willing to risk everything for others. There is no obligation to say the oath."

Not one of us lifted our hand.

"Very well," said Dumbledore. "Now, repeat after me:

"I swear by the Sacred Scroll, Light

To never do wrong and defend what is right,

To vanquish the dark,

And to kindle Hope's spark

I swear this by the Sacred Scroll, Light."

We repeated this in unison, and when we were done, lifted our hands from the Scroll. Dumbledore looked at us with respect blazing in his eyes.

"Emerald Destiny, Harry Potter, and Luke Wyte," he said proudly, "you are now members of the Order of the Phoenix."

The people in the room applauded enthusiastically as we took our seats. Luke resumed looking down at his hands.
After the meeting was over, at around 9:30, Harry and I headed towards Gryffindor tower. I spotted Luke sulking around the stone gargoyle, looking nervous and unsure of what to do.

"Harry, I'm gonna stay behind for a bit," I said. "You go on, I'll catch up."

"'K," yawned Harry; he turned the corner, and I went over to talk to Luke.

"Um, hi," I said.

"Hi," Luke said back. There was an uneasy silence that was broken when Dumbledore appeared from behind the gargoyle.

"I see you've met Luke, Emerald," he said, sky blue eyes twinkling. "Fawkes took to him right away, even though he'd never met Luke, much like the way he took to you."

"Er," I said. Was I supposed to be intrigued about this? Alarmed? Surprised? What!?!

"So, of course, I invited Luke to come here tonight," continued Dumbledore randomly. "I was going to introduce you to each other, but you did that on your own."

"Um," I said uncertainly. Where was this leading to?

"Well, actually, we didn't say more than hi," Luke said shyly.

"Ah. Then let me introduce you to Luke Wyte," said Dumbledore. "He was the grandson of a very close friend of mine. His family was very prestigious and well-known."

"You keep saying 'was'," I said slowly. "Why?"
Dumbledore paused for a moment, then said delicately, "Voldemort saw Luke's family as a threat to him. And we know how he deals with threats."

"I wish I didn't," I said tearfully. Sniffing, I asked Luke, "How'd you get away?"

"I wasn't at home when- when it happened," Luke said softly. "I was over at a friend's house. When I got home, I saw the Dark Mark over my house."

"How awful!" I gasped. "When was it?"

"Only a few nights ago," Dumbledore said. I started; I had completely forgotten he was there. "I was near the neighborhood when the attack happened, and I was one of the firs wizards on the scene. Fudge was there, also, but I regret to say that he regarded the whole thing as a hoax."

"I bet he would watch a massacre happen and think it was all a prank," I said bitterly.

"Let's hope it does not come to that," said Dumbledore, somewhat seriously.

"Fudge can't go on denying it forever, can he?" asked Luke.

"He could," said Dumbledore, "but that would be like looking a rabid bull in the eyes and saying it was perfectly harmless."
"Extremely dangerous and stupid," said Luke. I nodded in agreement and yawned. A few seconds later, I heard a faint chiming from within the walls.

"I think I've kept you two up far too long," said Dumbledore. "Emerald, you may head back up to Gryffindor tower. Luke, come with me. There's a spare bedchamber you can sleep in tonight."

I turned around as Luke and Dumbledore disappeared through the stone gargoyle, wondering many things. For one, why wasn't Luke in a house yet? Had he been home schooled? And why did Voldemort see Luke's family as a threat? Was it because of what they were well-known for?

I mulled over these things as I climbed through the portrait hole. Only a few people were in the common room; Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren't among them.

When I passed the white box on my way to the dormitories, I paused. Snatching up a quill and spare bit of parchment, I scribbled, "Harry Potter" on the yellowing sheet and stuffed it into the box. Smiling a little, I proceeded up to my dormitory, changed into my p.j.'s, and lay down in bed.

All too soon, I found myself surrounded by an endless stretch of golden mist. I bit my lip; the memory of last night's visit had just flooded back into my mind.
"D.C?" I asked.

"Hmmm?" came the relaxed reply.

"When Lily said that she and James weren't dead, what did she mean?" I asked tentatively.

"That they aren't dead," D.C. said.

"But then where've they been for the past 14 years?" I asked, starting to pace.

"In the Dream Crystal," came a crystal voices. I looked over my shoulder and saw Lily.

"Why is it that apparitions always appear behind you?" I asked heavily. Lily shrugged.

"I heard you talking about me," she said.

"Yeah," I said. "I've got tons of questions about what you said last night."

"I'll answer as many as I can," Lily said. "So, shoot."

"Ok. First of all, how'd you escape Voldemort?" I asked.

"We didn't," said Lily.

"Then how can you not be dead?"

"This little thing called the Dream Crystal Power," Lily said, eyes twinkling.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, you had the Dream Crystal last," I said. "Harry said he saw you wearing it in a picture he had of you."

"How is he?" asked Lily wistfully. "What's he like?"

"He's wonderful," I sighed. "He's funny, energetic, understanding... I could go on forever. You really have a wonderful son."

"I wish I could have watched him grow up," Lily said softly.

"You said that you and James weren't dead, but you didn't escape Voldemort's attack," I said slowly, wondering if this would help form an idea in my mind. "So you used the Dream Crystal Power. But how would that help?"

"The Dream Crystal Power can do just about anything," said Lily, startled at the sudden change of topic. "Time transport, dimension bouncing, you name it. I knew Voldemort was after James and me, so I started wondering if one could preserve one's self in the Dream Crystal. It turned out you could."

"So the night of the attack, you used the Dream Crystal Power to do that," I said. "Does that mean someone could use the Dream Crystal Power to release you?"

"Yes, but I don't want you to try," said Lily sternly. "I was almost killed when I used it, and I don't want you taking that chance."

"But you'd be able to see Harry-"

"No," said Lily firmly. Slowly, I nodded.

"What should I tell Harry then?" I said bluntly.

"Don't tell him at all," said Lily sadly. "He'll do better not knowing."
"You're right," I said heavily. There was a moment of silence, then I decided to ask another question. "When James said that I'd change since you last saw me-" I stopped, trying to phrase it right. Before I could figure out how I wanted to say it, the golden mist started to fade.

"See you in a few nights," Lily said. "I'm going to be busy for a while."

I sighed; why did I always have to wait to find out the important things?

The golden mist faded away to nothing, and I opened my eyes slowly.

"Don't tell me I slept in again," I groaned, getting out of bed. Sure enough, the dorm was deserted. "Great, I'm turning into Sailor Moon. New- found magical powers and a huge responsibility on my shoulders, but I still can't get up in time for school."

Yawning terribly, I yanked out my cloths, tossed them on and slung my bag over my shoulder before heading down for breakfast.

"You have got to stop coming to breakfast so late!" Hermione scolded as I sat down and took a bagel.

"Don't bug me right now," I mumbled, taking a bite. "I am not a morning person."

"Well that's obvious," Harry said.
I managed to get through the day without falling asleep once, but I came very close several times. Luckily, Harry was always there to nudge me awake if I looked like I was about to doze off.

"What would I do without you?" I asked Harry as we headed for dinner.

"Die of boredom?" Harry joked, poking me in the stomach. I laughed.

"I've got no doubts about that."

A week passed, and I still didn't hear from Lily. D.C. was refusing to tell me anything at all when I visited him at night.

"It's not my place to tell you," was always the reply when I asked a question about my first encounter with Lily.

"Well you're no help," I told D.C. grumpily.

Meanwhile, I was still getting up rather late, but I wasn't tempted to dose off in class. Luke was no where to be seen, and Malfoy, of course, was still acting cold and heartless, as always. That changed, however, at the end of my second week of term.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I were walking towards Gryffindor tower after dinner. Hermione and Ron were talking in whispers, which seemed to be all they did now. From time to time, Ron would whisper, smiling, something in Hermione's ear, and she would blush.

"Are you two hiding something from us?" I asked. "Like, if a certain red-head asked a certain brunette out?"

At that moment, Malfoy and his cronies rounded the corner ahead of us.

"Did I hear right?" Malfoy drawled. "Have the weasel and the Mudblood gotten together? And I thought you could sink no lower, Weasley."
I felt the heat rise in my face, and I opened my mouth to tell him off. Hermione, however, took control of the situation.

"Ten points from Slytherin, Malfoy," she said icily.

"You can't do that," said Malfoy, taken aback.

"I can't?" said Hermione, unpinning her Prefect badge. Malfoy paled.

"Don't mess with us, Malfoy," I snapped. "Now, be a good little ferret and bounce away."

Malfoy opened his mouth, but Hermione said, "Another ten points if you say anything."

He cast us a loathing look and walked past us, his two thugs trailing him as always.

"Go Hermione!" I said when Malfoy had turned the corner. She smiled shyly and resumed talking to Ron in whispers.

We spent the weekend lying around, playing chess, and thinking of ways to make Malfoy look like more of an idiot then he already was. Some of the ideas were a little far-fetched.
"Honestly, Ron!" I laughed. "However fun it would be to watch Malfoy go around imitating a baboon, I highly doubt you you enjoy watching it from Azkaban."

"It'd be worth it," he laughed.

"You don't even know how to use the Imperious Curse, anyway," commented Harry.

"I'd find out," Ron said. I rolled my eyes, and in doing so caught sight of Ginny. She was sitting alone in a chair, staring off into space. Her eyes looked wet and red, like she had been crying. When she saw me looking at her, she turned away so I couldn't see her face. Guilt hit me like a sledgehammer in my stomach. I shook the feeling off and forced myself to rejoin the conversation.

On Monday morning, I woke up at 6:30, dressed, and emerged into the common room to find a crowd of students gathered around the bulletin board.
"What's all this about?" I asked a first year at the back of the crowd.

"They've posted the results of the Quidditch captain vote!" he said.

"Do you know who it is?" I asked excitedly.

"That's what I'm trying to find out!" he snapped, annoyed. I rolled my eyes and shoved my way through the mosh-like crowd. Soon, after several, "Hey, that's my foot!"s, I found myself standing right in front of the bulletin board. A white piece of paper was titled, "Quidditch Captain Vote Results." Underneath, a name was written in gold; "Harry Potter."

I smiled broadly. This would make Harry go as berserk as when I had first told him about the Harry Potter books.

"Is this supposed to be a joke?" Harry exclaimed when I told him.

"No, it was right there on that little sheet of paper," I insisted. "You're the new Quidditch captain!" All through the day, Gryffindors we knew, and some we didn't, congratulated Harry on becoming Quidditch captain.

"When are you going to hold team try-outs?" Ron asked excitedly.

"This weekend, I guess," said Harry, shrugging. "You're gonna try out for the Keeper position, right?"

"Maybe," said Ron. "What about you guys?"

"I might try out as a reserve Chaser," said Hermione thoughtfully.

"Emerald?"

"I don't know," I said, shrugging. "I don't think I'd be any good on the team."

"You should try out for the reserve Seeker position," said Harry suddenly.

"Not me!" I said, shocked. "Definitely not me!"

"Yes you," insisted Harry. "You were great over the summer."

"I fell flat on my face most of the time!" I argued.

"No, you didn't," Harry persisted. "Just try out."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes!"

"Alright," I sighed, "I give in."

"Yes! Oh, you give in?" Harry said. I pushed him into the wall playfully; his face exploded into mock-rage. "How dare you! Push the Gryffindor Quidditch captain into the wall, will you?"

I started to laugh. Harry, smiling, said evilly, "I know where your weak spot is."

"You wouldn't," I gasped, mockingly stunned.

"Yes, I would," Harry said.
I turned on my heel and started running through the empty corridor, Harry right behind me. I rounded the corner, looking behind my shoulder at Harry, and collided with another person.