Number twelve Grimmauld place never looked better. Mrs. Weaseley had

spent many hours cleaning it up. Severus entered the kitchen to see it just

as he had remembered it. Dumbledore had insisted that Severus and Sheyliegh

join him, the Weasleys, Minerva, Remus, Tonks, and much to Severus' dislike,

Sirius, for dinner.



Severus and Sheyliegh sat opposite at the table from Sirius. Severus

tried his best to keep his eyes away from Sirius but it just wasn't possible.

Once they locked eyes and Severus could have sworn that there was a certain

sense of hate penitrating from his eyes into Sirius'. Sheyliegh had nudged

Severus so that he would pay attention to what Albus was saying.

"As most of you already know, I called this little meeting of ours

for a reason. A reason that I had hoped I would have never had to address

again. But now that it's come down to it, we must look the problem straight

in the eye." He paused and looked over to Severus. "I have been informed by

more than one person that Voldemort has been sending for his followers. It

has become obvious that he is once again on the prowl."

All went silent. It seemed as if something had sucked the air right

out of everyone's lungs. Some of them had been informed of this, but others

had not. Mrs. Weaseley let out a small whimper. Tonks looked at Minerva. She

could only nod to reassure that what she was hearing was true. Sirius stood

up. "But if he's back, do you think he'll come after you again Albus?"

"Sirius at the moment that's the least of my worries. I'm very

concerned about the wizarding community. But also for my neice and her

husband. It seems that Voldemort has a never ending grudge with Severus. And

now that Sheyliegh is married to him, she may be in harms way too."

"I for one don't give a damn about your stupid potions master. My

only concern is for you and Sheyliegh. If you are captured or worse, killed,

the entire wizarding world won't stand a chance!" He looked over at Severus.

"I think maybe we should just give him Severus as an offering. It wouldn't

make any difference. After he finished torturing him, he would make him his

slave once again."

"Sirius," said Minerva in a awed voice.

"Well I can see that I'm really not needed here, so I think that I

will be on my way." Severus stood up and before anyone could do anything, he

disaperated with a small 'pop'.

He aperated in Hogsmead. He looked up at the moon shining brightly

over head. He made his way to the Hogs Head for a bit of fire whisky. He

entered the room and was suddenly reminded of the times he spent in here on

his trips to Hogsmeade while in school. He would come in here all the time.

It was the best place that he could go to avoid being persecuted.

He would sit at the bar drinking butterbears. He was usually left

alone to his own thoughts. He enjoyed this time by himself. It gave him time

to think about his life, and his studies. It wasn't until his 6 year that he

had finally gotten some company. Sara had started to come with him in here.

They would sit for hours at the bar, talking about the other students and the

latest gossip, or about schooling. Sara was into Defense Against the Dark

Arts as much as Severus had been. That was both of their best subjects.

The ringing of the bell above the door interrupted his thoughts. In

stepped Sheyliegh. She came and joined Severus at the bar. "One fire whisky

please, and one butterbeer." She turned back to look at Severus. "Listen,

don't let what that jerk said get to you."

"Oh, are you kidding? I've been teased enough by him before. I fear

that I've grown some what used to it." He paused and ran his finger around

the rim of the goblet that his fire whisky was in. "Did you kiss him back?"

Sheyliegh had been caught off guard. They had not talked of the

events of the night that took place out on the grounds. "Severus, you know I

would never do that. What all did you see?"

"I saw you guys arguing about something, and then you kissed."

"Did you see what happened after that?"

"Well... umm... no. I was too outraged to watch anymore of it. I came

to teach that jerk a lesson."

"Severus he forced me into kissing him. We had gotten into an

argument about it, and so he did it without me knowing what he was doing."

Seeing the confused look on Severus' face, she continued. "When we were kids,

James, Remus, Sirius, Lily, and I would often sneak out of the castle late at

night to go out onto the grounds. We often played truth or dare. Well this

one night, Remus had dared me to kiss James. And since it was a dare, I did

it. So after a few more turns it was James' turn to dare someone, and he

chose me. He dared me to kiss Sirius. By this time I was really getting tired

of kissing people. But I went to do it. But before we could, Albus approached

us. He claimed that he had been on a midnight walk when he heard giggling."

"So you're telling me, that Sirius shows up after almost 30 years,

and he's upset because you never kissed him in a truth or dare game?"

"Well... yes."

"How stupid is that! For pitty's sake."

"Severus, after he kissed me that night I slapped him and then yelled

at him. I told him that I was married and that my lips belonged to you and

you only. But seeing how immature he is... he just did it." She took a sip of

her butterbeer. "And to think... I thought that he was my friend. I thought

that he was happy for me." She sat down her bottle and looked down at the

wooden bar. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

Severus put a reassuring arm around her. "How could I have been so

stupid! I should have known. He hasn't grown up a bit since he was a boy.

Being in Azkaban should have made a man out of him. I guess there's no hope

for Sirius Black." A tear streamed down her face.

"No, no Sheyliegh. Your not stupid at all. And you can't be that

upset about it."

"No of course not. I just... I wish that Lily was still alive. This

is the kind of thing that she would have liked to have helped me through.

Gosh I miss her and James." She sniffed and started to get up. "But there's

nothing I can do now. Shall we head torward the castle?"

***

School was a very unpleasent thing. Especially when you are a

professor who is also trying to help run a secret commitee. Severus and

Sheyliegh had both been appointed to help make plans and set dates for the

order. It was hard enough to keep that up while trying to make up lesson

plans. Severus had fallen sick the past few weeks and was getting worse by

the day. He was carrying a fever and was often woken in the night by vivid

dreams. His Dark Mark was hurting very often. He knew that Voldemort was up

to something. But what?

The order had met three times a week. They were made up by most of

the people that had been part of it a few years back. The only change was

three new additions. Percy Weaseley was back on good terms with his mother

and father after two years seperation. He was no longer working for the

ministry, but instead for Gringotts with his brother Bill. Fred and George

Weaseley had opened their very own joke shop as they had always dreamed. But

they jumped right at the oppertunity to join the order.

For now the only thing that they could do was brainstorm the kind of

things that Voldemort could be planning. There had been no other signs of

him. The only thing they had to go on was Severus and Karkaroff's word that

they felt the drak mark burn into their skin. They hated the idea of

Karkaroff and Severus having to attend one of the death eater meetings. But

if that ended up being the only choice that they had, Severus said that he

would give his life for the order, and for capturing Voldemort.

Back at Hogwarts everything was as normal as ever. The students

continued on with their lessons. Severus and Sirius were still not on

speaking terms. Sheyliegh had tried to set things straight between them. But

that had just made things even worse. They couldn't even stand to be in the

same room as each other. And because of this, Severus made it habbit to eat

his meals in his living quarters. Sheyliegh on the other hand, ate her meals

in the great hall. She always made sure to stay far away from Sirius. She was

still upset about his little episode he had had with her.

***

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were now in their 7 year. All three of them

would be taking their N.E.W.T.S. this year. Harry had become captian of the

quidditch team, and Ron had become better at playing keeper than Oliver had

ever been. Hermione was taking extra classes. They all had planned out what

they would be doing after school as well.

Harry would be training to be an Auror. He would also be joining the

order. He planned on living with his godfather for a while after getting out

of school. Ron was planning on audtioning for the British Quidditch team. He

had become really good over his 2 years of playing. He, like Harry, was also

planning on joining the order. Hermione was planning on becoming the Muggle

Studies professor at Hogwarts. Albus had asked her what she had thought about

it while in her 6 year. And like the other two, she would be joining the

Order. And if any of their plans went wrong, they would always have a job

opening at Fred and George's joke shop in Diagon Alley.

The three of them had been best friends for seven years now. Harry

had let his hate for Snape grow more than ever. The fact that Snape had used

an unforgivable curse on his godfather, had made him hate him more than ever.

He planned on getting back on him, without getting expelled of course. Him

and Ron had spent many hours of the night thinking up what they could do to

him. Hermione was not to know. She would of course ruin their plans like

always.

"We could always go with the classic." Ron was sitting in a chair in

front of the common room fire. It was about 2 in the morning and they were

the only ones still awake.

"Nah. I think that old slug puking charm is a little old. I think

that we need to consult some professionals on this one." Harry had grown

considerably in his past 7 years at Hogwarts. His figure, face, and hair was

just like his father's. But his eyes were still the same shade of green as

his mother's.

"Are you talking about Fred and George? Because you know what mother

would say if she found out..."

"Ron, Fred and George are definately not going to go to your mother.

They're not that thick. I think that going to Fred and George would be the

best thing we could do. They've had it in for dear old Snape since their first

year here." Harry reached down in his bag and grabbed his quill and some

parchment. He read aloud as he wrote. "Fred and George. We desperately need

your professional help..."