Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Nope, not me.

A/N: Yay for reviews!

This is a Remus chapter, and it is also the chapter for Monday.

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"What - what do you mean, Dumbledore?" Fudge blustered.

Dumbledore smiled. "Exactly what I said, Cornelius," he said calmly, crossing the room and coming to stand next to Remus and Aemilia. "Even if you throw your daughter out, she will always have a home here. And so will Remus."

Fudge pulled his lime-green bowler hat off his head and wiped his brow with a purple handkerchief before replacing it. "Not," he said curtly, "if I have anything to do with it."

"But you don't have anything to do with it," Dumbledore said, beaming. "You tried to take over the school once already, Cornelius, and I'm not fool enough to let you do it again."

"Stop me, then!" Fudge said. Remus thought he sounded like a petulant schoolboy.

"All right," Dumbledore agreed.

Fudge looked quizzically at Dumbledore. "What?"

"I said 'all right,'" Dumbledore replied. His eyes were twinkling over his half-moon spectacles. "Is your hearing going awry?"

"How exactly do you propose to stop me?" Fudge shot back.

"Well, I am the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot," Dumbledore answered. "Join the dots, Cornelius. But I would prefer not to be having this argument, truth be known. There is a greater foe that needs our attention, and this time I hope you will not disagree with me."

"That's got nothing to do with Aemilia taking up with a werewolf!"

"No, it has nothing to do with it at all," Dumbledore replied. "But I suspect that Aemilia is a grown woman quite capable of making her own decisions. Would that be right, Aemilia?"

Aemilia nodded fiercely. "Exactly so, Professor."

Fudge glared ferociously at his daughter. "I meant what I said, Aemilia," he hissed. "Take up with that werewolf, and I will cast you out."

Aemilia glared right back. "Get out," she grated, "before I hex you into tiny pieces."

With a last, furious glare at his daughter, Fudge left, magenta cloak swishing.

Dumbledore clapped his hands together. "Well, that's settled," he said quite cheerfully. "Sit down, Aemilia. I have a proposition for you."

*

It was pleasant, Remus reflected, to hold someone's hand. His fingers were still interlaced with Aemilia's as they sat down. It made him feel… wanted. Loved.

"Do you want me to leave, Professor?" he asked Dumbledore.

"Oh, no, Remus," Dumbledore replied. "What I am going to propose to Miss Fudge is something entirely known to you." He turned to Aemilia. "Have you heard, my dear, of the Order of the Phoenix?"

"Yes," Aemilia answered. "The anti-You-Know-Who legions from the first rising, yes? And you've started them up again now, right?"

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed.

Aemilia looked sideways at Remus. "You introduce yourself as a Lieutenant of the Order of the Phoenix sometimes, don't you?"

"I do," Remus confirmed.

"The Order of the Phoenix is the resistance to Voldemort, as you know," Dumbledore said smoothly. "Remus is a member, as are Severus and Minerva. Sirius Black when he was with it. All the people that were at dinner that night. And me," he added, almost as an afterthought.

Remus snorted. "He's the Commander, Aemilia," he told her.

"So I am," Dumbledore said. "Aemilia - would you like to join the Order?"

Aemilia looked slightly taken aback. "Me?"

"No, that person called Aemilia who's sitting behind you," Remus said snidely. She whacked his arm.

"Yes, you, Aemilia," Dumbledore replied, smiling.

"But -"

"Yes?"

"I don't know what I could… offer…" Aemilia's voice trailed off. "I mean… my father just fired me so I don't have a job any more, meaning I'm no use as a Ministry spy… and I don't have Auror training or anything…"

"You are a lawyer, Aemilia," Dumbledore said gently, "and we have none."

"What do you need a lawyer for?"

"Well, for one thing, it is definitely foreseeable that your father will stir up trouble for us, and we will have to defend ourselves." Dumbledore sighed. "Look at what happened last year. Harry Potter tried by the entire Wizengamot on a matter of underage magic. That is the kind of thing we need you for, Aemilia."

"But you defended Harry Potter last year!"

"I may not always be here, Aemilia," Dumbledore replied, "and in any case, my role for the Order is not as a lawyer and I confess I have little time to spend on legal matters."

"We need someone like you, Aemilia," Remus told her, squeezing her hand.

"And," Dumbledore said brightly, "you are already doing the Order's work in this lawsuit. We would have little hope if not for you, my dear."

Aemilia smiled slightly. "Well -"

"Not only that," Dumbledore went on, "but you are very intelligent and I know for a fact that you are excellent with defensive magic - one reason I was willing to give you the Defence Against the Dark Arts post if you wanted it. We have a great need of shrewd minds like yours."

"And I like you," Remus said, smiling at her. "That's got to count for something."

Aemilia smiled back. Remus felt his heart do a somersault. She was so beautiful… and she was his.

"I think," Aemilia said slowly, "that I will join this Order of yours, Professor - on the proviso that I don't have to wrestle a troll or anything to be initiated."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Of course not, my dear. Aparecium!" A scroll appeared on the table in front of him and he unrolled it. It was a list of all the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Remus remembered signing it himself, almost twenty years ago. "All you need do is sign the scroll."

Aemilia took up a quill. "All right."

"I am bound to tell you, though," Dumbledore cautioned her, "that there are… consequences. Did you hear about what happened to Marietta Edgecombe last year?"

"Is that the girl with 'SNEAK' written across her face?" Aemilia asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore replied. "She came by that after signing a list like this and then going back on it. There is a similar charm on this scroll."

Aemilia looked deep into the headmaster's blue eyes. "I would never betray you, Professor," she said quietly, and taking up the quill, she signed the scroll.

Dumbledore smiled at her. "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Corporal Fudge."

Aemilia beamed. "That sounds so… professional."

The doors to the library burst open. "Albus," Severus gasped, "you must come quickly. Helena - the Arachniae - the Dark Lord -"

"Sweet Merlin," Remus murmured. "He killed them, didn't he?"

Slowly, Severus nodded. "He did."

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