Chapter Three: October 31st, 1980
Sirius! Wake up, we need you!
'Lily!' Sirius gasped, his eyelids flying open as her voice rang in his head. Sitting up again, this time more slowly, Sirius ran a hand over his head. The aching had stopped, but beneath his fingers he could feel a ripple of coarse skin where the wound on his head was healing.
Low voices echoed outside Sirius's room, standing unsteadily he walked to the corridor, taking stock of his new surroundings. The walls were made of heavy brickwork, thick runs of mortar running between each block to hold it together. Sirius's general impression was that he had woken inside a mighty fortress, but there was also a homely feel to his surroundings.
It was then he realised where he was.
Unconsciously he began trailing one hand over the roughened stones as he walked down the passage, feeling the imperfections and cracks. With his eyes closed Sirius continued to pace slowly down the hallway, the first smile for days slowly moving across his face.
He stopped abruptly, his eyes still closed as he stood in the hallway, his right hand still pressed up against the wall. Without appearing to do anything, he turned and gave a section of the wall a gentle push, the smile on his face widening as it swung open.
Opening his eyes Sirius walked into the dark corridor that hid behind the wall. Still listening to the voices as they echoed in the doorway he found, Sirius stopped walking in front of another piece of nondescript wall. Running a hand over the surface again he stopped on a stone that was more or less right in front of him.
Drawing his wand he tapped out a small rhythm and two circular beams of light projected themselves onto his eyes. Blinking in the sudden brightness, Sirius lowered his wand then leaned forward, staring through the eyeholes which had appeared in the stone.
He was now staring into the staff lounge, at Hogwarts.
* * *
Quickly rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Sirius took stock of the gathering of professors and other wizards in the room.
He recognised some of the staff immediately, Professor Minerva McGonagall sat beside the empty chair at the head of the table, across from her was professor Filius Flitwick, both were in deep conversation over some matter.
A few seats down he recognised Frank Longbottom, an Auror from the Ministry of Magic, the seat beside him was empty. Remembering what Remus had told him earlier, Sirius presumed she was with their son, Neville. Continuing to scan the room he realised it was the explanation for a few other empty seats as well, Arthur Weasley sat by himself, drumming his fingers on the table nervously.
At the opposite end of the table, directly in front of the wall Sirius was hiding behind, were two empty seats, just fitting side by side. To either side of them were an empty chair, while a fifth sat slightly further apart, opposite it sat another Auror who Sirius did not recognise.
The discussions halted in the room when the door on the far side opened, but a second later resumed as Remus walked in, looking embarrassed. He headed slowly for the end of the table nearest to Sirius, taking the fourth chair which was on the opposing side of the table to the Auror.
As he sat, Lupin looked to the right at the empty chairs and Sirius saw regret in his eyes. Ignoring the curious gaze of the Auror, Remus reached into his pocket and pulled out a small photo frame, setting it at the two chairs on the end.
Sirius swallowed deeply as he realised whose seats they were, and his eyes blurred once more as he bent his head in the darkness.
A second hush in the room made him look back, wiping a sleeve over his eyes to clear the tears brimming there. Dumbledore stood in the entrance through which Lupin had emerged seconds before, wearing a small smile with Fawkes perched on his shoulder, and staring straight into Sirius's eyes. 'You have a place at this table, Sirius.' He said, his soft voice commanding attention in the room.
Without looking Sirius moved his hand to another block further down and pushed in a small gem that protruded inwards, almost invisible in the darkness. The section of wall he stood behind swung inwards into the room, revealing him to the occupants in a mist of lazy yellow light.
Nodding once at Dumbledore he walked to the chair beside the Auror and sat down, not taking a look at Remus or the photo on the table beside him. A second later he stood with the rest of the table as Dumbledore took his place, returning the nod to Sirius as he did so.
Avoiding the inquisitive stares of half the table as they sat once more, Sirius clasped his hands in front of him, tapping his knuckles gently on the table.
Only Dumbledore remained standing, clearing his throat before speaking to the table, the tone of his voice sombre. 'I thank you all for your presence here tonight. Yesterday evening we all suffered a tragic loss, for those of you in any doubt let me dispel the rumours. James, Lily and Harry Potter were all murdered last night, the latest victims of Lord Voldemort.'
'None of you would know any reason for him to murder them, but the same could be said for any number of people he has killed. At this point in time I would ask Sybil Trelawney to speak,' he gestured to a young witch with wide eyes, seated beside Flitwick. 'She has recently joined our staff here as the Professor of Divination, Sybil.'
With a nod to the Dumbledore she rose, her voice thin in the air and slightly nervous. 'During my…when Albus and I first met to discuss the position I...I predicted an end to this war. A child…Harry…he was meant to kill Lord…he would kill Him. I said the Dark Lord would mark Harry as an equal…before we had no idea how…Albus guessed he would go after him…but…'
At this point she broke down in tears, her large eyes welling over. Dumbledore stood once more, 'I failed to understand that he would kill him,' he admitted, the graveness showing on his face before he spoke once more. I do not believe Sybil's prediction to be false though, somehow Harry's life has had an impact, even if we do not know what it was, or will become.'
'I must also now apologise to Frank and Alice, for those of you who are not aware, their son Neville shared Harry's birthday – it was in this way that the child in the prophecy was identified. We did not know who Lord Voldemort would go after, and they have lived in fear for their son for far too long.'
Midway down the table Frank Longbottom stood, his face grave. 'Alice would have been here tonight but…she doesn't want to leave Neville. We didn't know Lily and James well, or Harry, but I know they will live on in our hearts, in all our hearts.' With this he sat down again, keeping his eyes down on the table.
'I am sorry to be abrupt,' Dumbledore continued, 'but some of us have a long way to go tonight after the meeting. The first charge of tonight's meeting, we welcome three new members to the Order of the Phoenix. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape, would you please rise?'
Lupin and Snape rose, but Sirius remained seated, slowly shaking his head from side to side. 'What the hell's he doing here?'
'Sirius,–' Dumbledore began.
'Have you tried asking him why Voldemort went after Lily and James? Have you?' Sirius snapped.
'Of course I've asked him,' Dumbledore replied, his voice waspish, 'why else would I put a spy in the Death Eaters?' In the silence that followed the two of them locked eyes, neither one looking away until Dumbledore spoke once more. 'Whether you can accept it or not Severus has been working with us for quite some time now, and I would ask you treat him with the same respect you show me.'
'You can ask,' Sirius muttered, his voice laden with resentment, but he stood anyway.
'The Order of the Phoenix was formed for one express reason,' Dumbledore began, 'to bring about the end of Lord Voldemort's campaign of terror. In many different ways you have all demonstrated that you intend to do this, some of you more than others. And in many cases some of our members have already made the ultimate sacrifice in trying to prevent Voldemort's actions.'
'Bearing this in mind, will you join us?' he asked, looking at each of them in turn.
Snape was the first to speak, a wry smile on his face. 'I'd like to think I joined a while ago,' he started, 'but that's not the point. I won't let you down, sir.'
'You graduated quite a few years ago,' Dumbledore replied, 'you don't have to call me 'sir' anymore.'
'Kind of difficult not to,' Lupin replied for Snape, 'I'm with you, headmaster.'
'If it means I get to kill him, I'm in.' Sirius said, his voice flat and hard.
'This isn't about revenge, Sirius,' Dumbledore interjected, 'if that's your only reason then I cannot permit you to aid us.'
Sirius laughed harshly before continuing. 'If that was my only reason why would I be here now? I'm not out for revenge, I'm out to kill him before he kills anyone else I've cared for.' Several of the Order nodded in agreement with him, with the finality in his words.
'Very well,' Dumbledore said. With a flick of his wand Dumbledore sent all the light in the room away, apart from the glowing feathers of Fawkes, perched upon his shoulder.
'Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix.'
In the flickering light of the feathers, Sirius turned to the photograph, to where Lily and James stood together, Harry snuggled into his mother's arms. Their faces were happy and the pain in Sirius's heart soared as he watched them. 'I won't let you down, I promise.'
'I promise.'