"Your name is Lily Potter," Sirius said slowly, clearly speaking eah word and with a completely straight face.
"Duh," was Lily's response and she raised her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest.
Sirius ignored her complete lack of enthusiasm, "You work in the Auror department of the Ministry of Magic, Level Two along with James."
She nodded, "Who else works with us?"
"Frank Longbottom, Isabella Bristow and the Bonums (A/N: That's Latin for good; my dad told me!)," James told her quickly, "That's our squad at least, but since it's a war against Voldemort and his Death Eaters we have other squads around us. We are instructed by Mad-Eye Moody. Your worst injury was getting hit by a curse that was cured but you still sometimes get after effects."
"Like?" Lily asked desperately.
"Head aches, vomiting or moodiness. I'm pretty sure that's why you were ill yesterday," James said it all plainly and as though it was obvious and no big deal.
"What else do I need to know? Gossip or news and stuff," she looked at the two men in front of her expectantly.
"Alice is sick at the moment and all of your friends are away on vacation right now. You were sick yesterday, as I mentioned before," James continued.
"All my friends? That's like Isabella, Sydney and Alexandra, right?" she asked, "And why does it matter that Alice is sick? I mean it obviously isn't good but why are you telling me? She was two years above us and her husband, Frank was three above us!"
"Alice is now a friend of yours and you two often discuss gossip or other news at Order meetings," James told her, smiling slightly.
"What's the Order?" she was starting to feel very stupid about how much she didn't know.
"The Order of the Phoenix is an organization that fights Voldemort," Sirius told her casually, "all of us joined straight out of school."
"What do we do?" was her next question.
"Fight him," James said simply, "protect people and warn them since we have spies that can tell us about his plans."
"And what about my Auror job at the Ministry?" she was now enjoying asking the questions now and she was certainly getting more and more curious about her future.
"You and Prongs just fight the known Death Eaters when they turn up. You've also fought Voldemort three times (A/N: "Born to those who have thrice defied him...")," Sirius supplied excitedly.
"What else should I know?" she was very eager now.
James opened his mouth to answer but before he could an owl swept over his shoulder and landed in an undignified heap on the kitchen table.
"Artemis!" Lily cried, it was Alexandra's owl, although she was no longer the fluffy owlet (A/N: Is that the right word?) Lily had remembered. She was a fully-grown dignified barn owl.
She ripped open the envelope tied to Artemis' claw and
read;
Dear Lily and James
Merry Christmas! Switzerland is beautiful at this time of year. Michael and I are learning to ski! I know you still think that Libra is too young for us to have taken her to such a cold place but for a three-month-old girl she's fine! We hope you two can make use of this.
Love, the
Yorks;
Alex
Michael
and Libra
Lily read it through twice before turning to James and Sirius, "Who's Libra? And is that Michael the one in the year above us?"
James nodded, "Michael York. The Muggle-born. Libra is their daughter."
Lily just gaped at him for about a few seconds before coming to her senses, "I guess that I should open this." She indicated to the rather large and squishy package tied to Artemis' scaly leg.
"Go ahead," James nodded.
Lily nimbly untied the parcel and opened it. Inside there were a matching pair of slippers, both blue although one pair was rather larger and they were obviously meant for James.
(A/N: I know; stupid. Can I blame it on tiredness?)
Lily wasn't sure why but that really seemed to make everything fall into place. Irreversibly. She groaned and sank lower on her chair.
"Why me?" she muttered sullenly.
"Awwwww, sweet! Little cuddly slippers," Sirius held up Lily's pair, "your feet must be small."
"Tiny," James said absentmindedly.
Lily glared at him, "Any other surprises? My best friend is married, has a kid and you failed to mention it?!" she suddenly looked very worried. "I don't have a child, do I?"
"No, don't worry," James soothed her. He went back to his position by the stove and continued to cook.
In the awkward silence, Sirius' mumble was perfectly audible; "It's not for lack of trying."
"PADFOOT! Will you please be more tactful!" James thundered at his best friend.
Sirius rolled his eyes, "Just the truth..."
"That's enough. Let's get back to teaching Lily, alright?" James scowled at Sirius before turning to Lily. "Isabella Tailor is now Isabella la Grange. Sydney was going out with Ben Kindrake."
"Cool! Izzy always wanted to get married when she was out of school! Are they away too? And who's Syd going out with now?" Lily was bubbly and excited about the future; it was actually pretty good, if you excused the fact that she was married to Potter...
James sighed and softly said, "She was murdered Lily, she and her sister Hannah. Some Death Eaters killed them because they had were both Unspeakables and when they were tortured they refused to talk."
"No," Lily was white-faced and shocked, realizing that the future wasn't much better than the past, "not Syd! How could it have happened?"
She buried her face in her hands and all three were silent for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. James squeezed her shoulders but let go as soon as she glared at him with red-rimmed eyes.
Lily glanced up curiously, "How do they know how Sydney died?"
James looked at her straight in the eye. "Claire Midgett. You remember that she always was friends with Hannah?"
Lily nodded for him to continue. "What happened?" she repeated.
"Claire was visiting them in their apartment
in Hogsmeade. Three masked Death Eaters Apparated in and since Claire
was in the kitchen they didn't know she was there at first. She heard
them so walked into the lounge and they put a Body-Bind on her before
torturing the twins with the Cruciatus-curse (A/N: Is my spelling
right?). She watched them torture and murder her best friend."
James
bowed his head sadly.
"She was shaking when the Ministry arrived and removed the Body-Bind. She just threw up and started crying. It was awful. She had nightmares for weeks afterwards, always with the same words one of the Death Eaters spoke to her before they left: 'You are lucky the Dark Lord wants you to live, Muggle-loving fool though you are.' Nobody's figured out why he wants her to live though." Sirius looked very forlorn and pained as he said the last words.
Lily hesitantly asked, "I don't understand why she told you all of these details." She ventured pointedly.
Sirius sighed, "Claire needed to tell someone. You're one of her friends now Lily."
"And Padfoot here is her boyfriend," James concluded, Sirius barely even acknowledged the mention of his nickname.
"And Izzy? She's safe, right?" Lily questioned anxiously.
"Safe in Florida. She lives in France with Robby la Grange, a guy from Beauxbatons," James reassured his nervous wife.
Lily sighed. "What else?" she felt she was prepared for almost anything right now.
"The Order," the two men said simultaneously.
"You mentioned it earlier. The one that fights Voldemort?" Lily asked.
Both men nodded. James continued, "Dumbledore heads it all up. He'll assign us jobs and missions to fight Death Eaters. As Padfoot said; we've fought Voldemort as well."
"How did we do it?" Lily had an almost greedy look on her face as she asked them.
"A story for another time," (A/N: Actually I'm just a bit lazy and this will also fit a lot better in chapter... six or seven.) James evaded the question with a wave of his hand.
"Who else is in the Order?" she asked with less enthusiasm.
"Moody, Dedalus Diggle, the Longbottoms, Emmeline Vance, Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Caradoc Dearborn, Elphias Doge-"
"He has a really stupid hat!" Sirius cut in (A/N: Couldn't resist ; )).
James cleared his throat and continued his list, "Gideon Prewett, Hagrid, Abeforth; that's Dumbledore's brother, Dorcas Meadowes and of course Sirius, Remus, Peter and us."
Lily just gaped at him in disbelief and awe, "How did you remember all of the names?" she finally asked quietly.
Sirius stood and slung an arm around James shoulders, "Old Prongsie-boy here didn't get the most NEWTs in the year by being forgetful, Lily."
James blushed and Lily asked, "Did I get some as well?"
Sirius snorted, "You wouldn't be an Auror if you hadn't!"
Now it was Lily's turn to blush as James smiled; "You had one less than me."
"What about Mickey? She's (A/N: Sorry if McKinnon is a he but I don't have the book right now) in the Order too," Sirius glanced at James.
James sighed and as he said the next words he looked far older and tireder than his twenty years. "No Sirius, McKinnon was killed recently," he sighed loudly, "there are dangers in fighting for the Order. But some things are worth dying for."
The moment was broken out of its mystical air when the doorbell rang.
"See Sirius? Some people have manners and don't barge in on personal discussions." Lily said rolling her eyes before she glared at Sirius.
Sirius pretended to look hurt, "I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about, Lily. And it was an argument, not a 'personal discussion'."
Remus was waiting patiently, leaning on the wall nearby. As soon as Lily opened the door she saw him and she was engulfed in a hug.
"Merry Christmas, Lily!" Remus grinned at her and held out a a rectangular package.
Lily quickly responded with her own greetings but she was slightly overwhelmed.
"I think you can already guess what I've gotten you since you've been asking for it for about a month," Remus grinned at her while they walked back towards the kitchen.
Lily was luckily saved the trouble of telling Remus she in fact had no clue what he had gotten her because James called to them to say lunch was ready.
"You're lucky to have a husband who can cook, Lily," Sirius teased her.
She nodded mutely as Remus exchanged another round of greetings with James and Sirius.
James presented Remus with a gift and Lily remembered the one in her own hands. She wondered what she had been asking for. 'Only one way to find out,' she thought as she ripped off the wrapping. Inside there was a book on Animagi. A note was tucked into the book jacket. 'I know you wanted this when you kept on insisting that you should transform with James. I think a squirrel would suit you. -Remus'
Lily was still puzzling over why she would have wanted to be able to spend more time with James than absolutely necessary when his voice cut into her thoughts; "Lily? Would you mind setting the table?"
Lily just shrugged and headed into the dining room (A/N: She had past it on her way downstairs; that's how she knew where it was.)
"Ornatus!" she said clearly and with a flick of her wand, the table was set for four people with a chiffon blue table cloth and nuts and berries decorating the table. Silver candles were burning low around the room. She smiled in satisfaction. She was a perfectionist; that would never change.
The meal was delicious: James had done most of the work in the end and he was a Marauder which (as Sirius so humbly put it) automatically made him "good at everything". Lily was starting to really enjoy her Christmas despite having to be with the Marauders when a conversation started up.
Remus cleared his throat, "Lily, I remember you weren't feeling well yesterday, did you go for a check-up at St. Mungo's?"
Lily glanced at James who nodded quickly and responded, "yes," she lip-read James' next words, "they said they'd Floo to tell me what was wrong."
Remus nodded politely and turned to James, "Nothing to worry about then," he smiled boyishly, "since you were so worked up yesterday, Prongs."
James laughed, "How could I not be worried? Lily hadn't been sick since I married her, except for the curse side effects."
Lily tried to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks. Potter, worried about her?
The rest of the lunch went smoothly until the Christmas pudding and custard were served.
"Oh yes, Lily. I forgot to ask; when are you going to teach me to make those delicious mince pies of yours?"
Lily opened her mouth and shut it again, feeling stupid, "Maybe in January sometime?" she ventured nervously, hoping that she would be back in her own time by then because she had no clue how to make the pies Remus was referring to.
"You could do it today; you have lots of time," Sirius grinned mischievously at her from behind Remus.
Lily glared at him and he quickly continued, "But I suppose not, what would poor James and I do while you cooked?"
"Play Quidditch," Remus said sarcastically, "And not today because I need to leave soon for Order work."
"On Christmas Day?" Lily frowned worriedly.
"I'll be fine, Lily, I always get back safely," Remus sighed tiredly, "Dumbledore just needs the job done soon."
"If you say so," Lily smiled thinly.
"Speaking of which, I'd better go now. Merry Christmas!" he stood and embraced them all again before he Disapparated with a loud pop.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Sirius was looking at her innocently.
Lily snorted and started to levitate the dirty plates to the kitchen.
A strangely long chapter. Not my best, I know but thanks for bearing with me for now. Please review anyway and I hope the next chapter will be better! If you want to say ANYTHING please do! So get reviewing!
