Title: The Young Order

Rating: Probably PG, perhaps PG-13, who knows? Some where in-between there, at most PG-13 just to be safe. God knows what this mindless authoress would write...x]

Disclaimer: I, sadly, own nothing of J.K. Rowling's, and nothing in the HP universe. If I did, do you think would have died?!?! OF COURSE NOT!

Summary: Just read and find out…

Author's Note: SCHOOL'S OUT!!! celebrates This is chapter TWENTY! Oh my word. I should throw a party…this is the FIRST STORY I've EVER WRITTEN to have TWENTY CHAPTERS! As in, two sets of ten chapters, four sets of five chapters, ten sets of two chapters. I am so the math genius. is in a state of shock

April holidays soon came to a close but Lily, Treasure, and Laurel did not feel the same pre-exam jitters as they usually would. Thanks to Lily, they had made good use of the Easter break, studying every day. In Treasure's opinion, if the professors knew how hard the trio had studied over the break, they would stop giving them homework all together.

"You know, I think we could just take the O.W.L.s right now," she said, sitting comfortably next to Sirius in the Gryffindor Common Room and completely ignoring the open book in her lap. Her face was flushed and she was grinning foolishly, Sirius in very much the same state. James rolled his eyes, and Peter tutted disgustedly, glaring at Sirius (something he usually never dared do). Laurel and Remus were the only one's who didn't seem entirely offended, mostly because they were preoccupied as well. Lily, who had been ignoring whatever her two best friends had been doing - and with good reason - said "Oh, no, we've got ever so much more to do. I mean, it was wise how we studied over the break, but we've got a month to go!"

"Don't fret, Evans, you'll be fine," James said, stretching and reaching to touch her hair. She snarled at him, snapping her book closed, still very angry at him for getting himself caught by a succubus. None of the Marauders, or Laurel or Treasure, knew why. "James Potter I don't know why you don't just give up," she said nastily, gathering her books and leaving to the dormitories.

"Aw, Evans wait!" he begged, walking right behind her halfway up the stairs. Lily did not seem bothered by this, and a moment later it was clear why. James came flying down the staircase - which was no longer a staircase. It had magically turned into a slide, and James, caught off guard, slid down head first; he landed in a heap at the foot of the stairs. The Marauders and everyone else in the Common Room roared with laughter. James, seeing no reason to stick around if Lily wasn't there, stomped up angrily to the boy's dormitories.

"They are gonna be married one day," Laurel said, claiming her lips long enough to speak.

Treasure grinned, pulling off the hair tie that had kept her hair back and laying it down among her books. She stood up and offered a hand to Sirius, pulling him up beside her. "What do you say to a walk?" she asked. He grinned offhand, "What, am I your dog now?" he quipped. She took his hand affectionately, "You know it," she said, and they disappeared out the portrait hole.

Peter was glowering from the squashy red armchair that he was sitting in. "What crawled up your ass, Wormtail?" Laurel asked, running a hand through her hair. It seemed the Remus was the only one capable of mussing it up. Peter said nothing and Laurel shrugged, tossing her watch onto the table (it had broken its clasp) and went back to previous activities. Peter sat up abruptly and gathered his books together, heading up to the boy's dormitory as well.

"Let's go to the forest," Treasure suggested, tugging Sirius along the path that lead there - whether or not he would agree remained to be seen. He didn't protest, but pulled out his wand upon entering. Treasure seemed to know where she wanted to go, and Sirius followed silently. They stopped at the clearing where he had stumbled upon Treasure months ago, as she gave treats to the unicorn Aelia.

Treasure whistled and it wasn't long before delicate hooves were heard as the forest seemed to get quieter, stiller. Sirius felt his breath catch as the golden form of the unicorn emerged. The unicorn seemed apprehensive, eyeing Sirius warily, and Treasure positioned herself between him and Aelia, still holding onto his hand. She stretched her other hand out to Aelia, who stood on quivering legs, ready to bolt at any moment.

"I know you haven't seen me for a while, love, but you remember me, don't you?" Treasure murmured. Aelia whinnied softly and stepped up to press her nose into Treasure's outstretched palm, and Treasure smiled. "There you go, beauty," she said, tugging Sirius next to her.

"She might let you pet her…as she's a baby, she'll be more open to males…full grown unicorns don't usually let men get near them," Treasure explained. Sirius nodded, he knew all this from Care of Magical Creatures.

Aelia, still wary, poked her horn at Sirius, who stayed very still so as not to get impaled. Treasure laughed, warding off Aelia's horn but not touching it, petting the unicorn's mane and pressing her face next to Aelia's, "Come on, love, be nice." she scolded. Aelia neighed and stood still, and Treasure tugged Sirius closer, making sure Aelia saw this.

"Unicorns are very smart," she explained to Sirius, who looked at her quizzically. Treasure figured that if Aelia saw Treasure, who she trusted, so close to a man, she would be willing to trust him as well. Treasure's theory was right, and slowly Aelia allowed Sirius to come closer, and finally put a tentative hand on her mane.

"She's beautiful," he said softly. Treasure smiled at him, pulling an apple out of the pocket of her robes and offering it to him. "Not for you," she said, rolling her eyes as he was about to take a bite out of it. He grinned sheepishly, and offered it to Aelia, who was staring at him reproachfully. As Aelia munched on the apple, and Sirius watched chuckling, Treasure regarded him thoughtfully. Aelia finished quickly, and lead them both over to sit underneath a large tree. It was still early, the sun still high and light was scattered on the forest floor. Treasure couldn't think of a dreamier place, leaning against Aelia, who had grown quite a bit since October. Sirius put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head against his shoulder, giggling as Aelia rooted around her robes for more sweets.

"You know, you never talk about your parents…or your brother. What's his name?" Treasure said after a few moments of peaceful silence. Sirius stiffened, "Regulus, a third year…he's in Slytherin," he said, as if this should explain it all. Treasure was quiet. "Should I talk about them?" Sirius asked. Treasure shrugged, confused at his change in demeanor. "I dunno…I just thought…well, I'm going to be staying in London this summer, my parents want to visit the places I've been spending so much time at, and I wouldn't mind meeting your parents," she coughed hastily. "That is, my father want to meet your parents…my father wants to meet you, actually, he wants to see the boy that I've been getting so close too," she felt her face get hot and wished that she'd never brought it up, seeing as how Sirius was gritting his teeth.

"Your parents don't want to meet mine," he said.

"Oh, but I just told you they do…"

"They don't, Tres, believe me," he said angrily, standing up so quickly that Aelia was startled and she jumped to her feet as well, and Treasure fell back against the tree. Sirius paced around angrily, and Treasure tossed him an injured look that he didn't see. She picked herself up off the ground, rubbing her head. Aelia, sensing the tension, whinnied nervously and pushed her head against Treasures hands, seeking reassurance.

"Shh," Treasure cooed at the unicorn, who was prancing on her feet now as Sirius clenched and unclenched his fists. Treasure watched sadly as Aelia skittishly trotted away, nickering apologetically towards Treasure as she left. Treasure sighed, and hesitantly walked up to Sirius. She would have been angry at him, but saw how upset he was and decided that now wasn't the time to be angry. She put a hand on his shoulder and he turned to face her, looking very upset.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, touching his face where his jaw was still clenched. She'd never seen him look so upset. "You're parents are Muggle-born, aren't they?" he asked. She shrugged, "Yes, but what has that got to do with anything?" she asked. He sighed. "My parents - my mother more than my father, although he has his fair share of biases - don't like Muggle-born witches or wizards…in fact, they don't have a much better view of them than people like Snape," he said bitterly.

"Oh," Treasure said softly, looking hurt. Sirius swore.

"Most of my family was Sorted into Slytherin…me being the current exception. I'm a bit of a black sheep, actually."

"Dog," Treasure offered a lop-sided smile, trying to ease some of the tension out of the conversation.

"My mother never approved. She thinks Slytherin is the only respectable House left in Hogwarts, as they accept only Purebloods."

"Well…I can still meet them, can't I?" she asked. "I'm not Muggle-born, technically I'm a first generation Pureblood," she continued stoutly. Sirius looked away. "My parents are not concerned with technicalities…they'll say you're a Mu-…I don't think it's a good idea for you to meet them. Hell, I don't even want to know them and I'm their damn son," he growled. Treasure wrapped her arms around him, "My parents really want to meet them, though…and you too…what am I supposed to tell my father?" she asked. Sirius said nothing.

"So you're mother is a bit old fashioned…I'm sure I can win them over," Treasure said, smiling happily at him. He didn't have the heart to tell her that obviously she had a very bad perception of his mother. Sirius sighed again.

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll love me," she teased. Sirius smiled, half-heartedly. "Why don't you tell your parents they can meet me first, Tres? Then we'll see about…my parents…" he looked very troubled. Treasure smiled, "Okay…its you my father wants to meet most, anyway, seeing as how I'm not dating your parents," she said and Sirius laughed, trying to force the thoughts of his parents out of his mind.

Lily was throwing her things about the girls' dormitory angrily, searching to no avail. Treasure walked in, her eyebrows drawn together worriedly and was hit in the face with Lily's spare robes as they flew through the air.

"Where is it?!" the red head screeched angrily. Treasure pulled the robes off her head and walked over to her best friend. "What's wrong, Lils?" she asked, smacked in the face with Lily's long red hair as she turned around angrily.

"I lost one of my earrings!" she wailed, collapsing onto the mess that was her bed. Treasure looked perplexed. "Er…and tearing apart the dorm is going to find them?" she asked, gesturing to the curtains that were hanging loosely, half off the rack that supported them. Lily glared.

"My father sent them to me for my sixteenth birthday, Treasure! They're really, really expensive! He said it took him months to save up for them, and the only reason he was giving me such an expensive gift was because he was sure that I would be responsible…from what I hear, Petunia was furious…"

Treasure patted Lily on the back, a smile tugging at her lips. "WHAT ARE YOU SO BLOODY AMUSED ABOUT?!" Lily roared, very uncharacteristically loud. Treasure laughed out loud. "Lily, you're a witch…the best student in Charms in this year…surely you can find a Locator Charm or something?" Treasure asked. Lily flushed up to her hairline. "Right," she muttered, flipping through the huge Charms book that Treasure had given to her for Christmas.

"Here it is, Locator Spell…it's really simple," she said, as Treasure waved her wand around, magic-ing Lily's clothes and books back into her trunk and under her bed. Treasure was not paying too much attention, and Lily's robes would be rather wrinkled. Treasure was thinking of the conversation she'd had with Sirius earlier.

"Locatus objectom!" Lily cried, and from her wand came a willowy blue shape. It swirled around a bit, hovering a few feet above the ground, and then twisted into the shape of a rat.

"What?" Lily said angrily. "I must have done it wrong…maybe I'm in the wrong room…" she was speaking to herself as she stormed out of the dormitory. Tresaure followed, carrying the Charms book with her. James and Sirius were sitting across from each other, playing wizarding chess. By the looks of it, it was a very close game. Remus and Laurel were sitting on the couch, Laurel seemed to have fallen asleep. Peter was watching Sirius and James' chess match.

"Locatus objectom!" Lily said again, waving her wand around a bit. The blue smoke flew around the room, and turned into a rat again. James and Sirius looked up curiously, and no one noticed how Peter paled and padded quietly out of the Common Room.

"Now what?" Lily wailed, sitting down on an armchair dejectedly. Treasure patted her arm quietly, "I'm sure it'll turn up, Lils, don't worry," She didn't want to mention how it was possibly that a rat had eaten Lily's prized earring "…Remus, could we borrow your niffler?" Treasure asked suddenly. Remus nodded from across the room, and made to get up.

"Oh, don't go now…" Lily said sadly, looking at how Laurel was asleep and leaning on her boyfriend…if he moved, she'd wake up. "We'll look for it tomorrow," Lily continued, getting up and ignoring how James was staring at her. She seemed to have gotten immune to it by now. She headed back up to the girls' dormitory. Treasure yawned and reached for a hair tie that she knew she'd left on the table. She looked puzzled when she couldn't find it.

"Must have moved it," she mumbled, getting up and following Lily to the dorm, calling a good night to the rest of the Marauders over her shoulder.

"Laurel, wake up," Remus whispered quietly. Sirius and James had already retired to the boys' dormitory, James remarking snidely about how serious Remus's relationship must have gotten, now that Laurel saw fit to sleep on him. Sirius snickered as Remus's ears turned pink.

It was now nearly midnight, and the rest of Common Room had slowly been filtering out over the last hour. Remus and Laurel were left alone in the room, and out of the two of them Remus was the only one awake. The only sound was the crackling of the fire, which lasted even well into May, seeing as how the castle was always quite cool regardless of the summer months.

Laurel sighed and sat up slowly, her big green eyes fading quietly into silver as she looked upon Remus happily. "You know," she said, stretching and enjoying his full attention on her, "You look incredibly good with your hair like that," she finished, her eyes darkening to green again as she tugged on his ponytail. He smiled at her, "Don't you think its time for you to head back to the Hufflepuff Common Room?" he asked. She reached for her watch, which had mysteriously disappeared. Her eyebrows knitted together for a moment, giving her a look of extreme concentration, which made Remus chuckle because she still had not shaken off the lingering effects of having just awoken. "Where's my watch?" she mumbled, staring at the empty table as if it had swallowed it.

"What's wrong?" Remus asked. Laurel looked up at him, smiling again, her eyes silver. "Nothing," she said, her left hand delicately tracing her right wrist where the watch would have been. "I just…misplaced my watch, that's all," she said. Remus looked around, also staring accusingly at the table. "It was here with all the books, wasn't it?" he asked. She nodded, "Yeah, but it was a piece of crap anyway…the clasp was broken. I'm sure it'll turn up…" she said, standing up and heading to the Gryffindor's girls' dormitory. Remus looked befuddled. "Laurel…you're in Hufflepuff," he said. She shrugged, "Yeah, I know…but I'll be in a load of trouble if I'm caught walking around the corridors at -" she checked her wrist again, only to see that her watch wasn't there. "-this hour…" she continued, smiling. "Lily conjured up a cot for me…I'm gonna kip with them tonight. Same as I do when it's a full moon," she said. He nodded and kissed her gently goodnight.

"See ya in the mornin'," she called, heading up the stairs.

Laurel, Lily, and Treasure woke up the next morning each feeling very strange. They didn't mention it to each other, but there was something hazy about their mind, as if they were thinking something new but they couldn't grasp exactly what. Lily ignored James more completely than ever; Laurel barely responded as Remus smiled warmly at her, offering a walk around the grounds. She went with him limply, hardly saying a word, and not smiling much either. Her eyes remained a cool silver the whole time, and she seemed more like a veela than he'd ever seen her. He wondered what was wrong.

Treasure tilted her head as Sirius walked over to kiss her good morning, and claimed that she was feeling a bit under the weather as he got an injured look on his face. He asked her quietly if she was upset with him after their conversation yesterday about his parents, and she laughed a bit stiffly, saying no. But she kept her distance from him the entire day, leaving Sirius disgruntled and irritable.

James watched Treasure and Laurel through narrowed eyes, not liking how Sirius was peeved and Remus was hurt. He tried to reassure his friends that it was quite possible they were having one of their typical female moments. "Who can understand that lot, anyway, mates? Raving banshees, the whole load," he said of the female gender. Lily regarded him very coldly, and James stared back, still embarrassed after having been sent whizzing down the slide that became of the stairway to the girls' dormitory. Lily moved and went to sit next to Peter, who was having a difficult time with his Charms homework. She sat rather close to him, tilting her head and showing off her neck, casting nasty looks every so often at James. Peter had the courtesy to look surprised, but there was a smug smile on his face that wasn't fooling the rest of the Marauders for a minute. Something was definitely going on here.

Treasure and Laurel emerged through the portrait hole and went straight over to the couch where Lily sat, surrounding Peter in a sea of perfumes and short, altered Hogwarts uniforms. Neither cast a look at their respective boyfriends, even finding the nerve to look disdainful as their significant others came to sit next to them. Moony, Padfoot, and Prongs all looked suspiciously down at Peter, who grew slightly pink under their gaze, but didn't stop his conversation with the girls.

A/N: There you have it, chapter 20. ::dances:: Okay, from the title and the not-so-subtle hints at the culprit…who's the wise one who can tell me what's going on in the two main relationships that make up this story? offers Marauder plush toys to whoever wants

Oy, I found out that Sirius has GRAY EYES! I always thought they were brown! That is so cool…So, whatever I said about his eyes in previous chapters - I don't remember if I even mentioned his eyes - change whatever it is to GRAY now, okay? WOOT.

I've been looking up all these Sirius Black sites and it seems, sadly, that he truly is dead. How could JKR be so cruel? Hasn't Harry lost enough people he's loved? I mean, the kid FINALLY gets a father figure after THIRTEEN YEARS of being an orphan…and ::rant rant rant::

Ah, well. I hope that I'm going to write this story up to Harry's present time, cuz I really want Treasure and Laurel to meet Harry, and I wanna write Lily and James's wedding and all that…so if ya'll promise to keep the reviews coming, I'll keep this story going. Not to threaten or anything, cuz Laura knows I'll probably keep writing it anyway. I'm recently re-obsessed with Sirius Black. But, reviews would be greatly appreciated. Italics are fun.

I'm a bit upset though…I don't think I've gotten Sirius and James's characters dead on…Sirius is more of a prankster and more arrogant, James is okay but could be more cocky, I think. Maybe I need to add more Snape. Ah well, that's what the sixth year is for, right? I can't wait 'till that whole post-exams/Snape/Snivellus/upside-down thing…

SO - review, please!

-Crystyna