Wednesday 1st November 1978

Hogsmeade, 20:15

"This is so weird," Sirius whispered as they made their way through Hogsmeade.

"It feels like we're sneaking out," Lily said, pulling her cloak closer around her.

It was an awful lot colder up here in Scotland than it was in London. If it was winter in London then it was like being in an ice cube up here.

"Nah, if we were sneaking out, we'd be sticking closer to the buildings," James told her. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Not that I would know anything about that."

That made everyone snort. Yeah right, as if any of them believed that.

"Does the village look really small or is it just me?" Sirius asked as he looked around the rather empty village.

As it should be considering it was eight in the evening and nothing was open. Well, except for the Three Broomsticks. It was definitely open and spilling light onto the street.

"You haven't grown any in five months, Padfoot," Remus said in exasperation.

I think it looks smaller," Peter backed him up.

Sirius made a scoffing noise. "Peter, you definitely haven't grown."

That comment got him a sharp elbow from Lily and Marlene (it turned out that she had been invited too, cool - it was nearly the whole gang).

"Ow!"

Neither girl apologised.

"It's because there's nothing crowds of people," Remus explained. "The crowds of students make it look like it can hold more. Without them it looks small."

"Well, it is a village," Lily pointed out. "It's not meant to be big."

None of them could argue with that, could they?

"Well, it still looks weird," Sirius said firmly.

Because it was. Oh, sure it looked empty when they snuck out when they were in school but they hadn't exactly been roaming Hogsmeade when they did that

In contrast to the Three Broomsticks, it looked like no light was coming from the Hog's Head. It looked like it was in darkness and was pretty gloomy looking. Not welcoming at all. But they knew better. Well, him, James, Remus and Peter did. He wasn't sure about Lily. Had she ever even been close to the Hog's Head never mind in it?

It didn't look to be the type of place she would go to. Well, it also didn't look like the place he or James should be going to either. He was sure their parents would disapprove heartily. For different reasons. The Blacks would turn their noses up at it because Abe didn't care who or what he served, be they human or not or something in between. Something Sirius was happy to show his support of. The Potters, on the other hand, would disapprove because it attracted a "rougher crowd". Neither of these stopped them from going in while they were at school.

"It looks like one of those bars in those old horror movies," Lily said sceptically.

"What happens to bars in old horror movies?" Peter asked with a gulp.

"Nothing good," she replied.

Oh, that sounded interesting.

"Wormtail, you've been in the Hog's Head before," James told him. "It's great, remember?"

Peter's shoulder relaxed. "Yeah, you're right. It's great."

Lily was now sending them a questioning yet unsurprised. Huh. They must be losing their touch.

"It's a bit grotty inside," Sirius offered. "But it's got tonnes of character."

"Characters, you mean," Remus said under his breath, making Sirius snort.

"Abe is great!" James added. "He's hilarious and sarcastic."

"Takes no crap either," Remus said. "Which is useful for this lot," he gestured at him and James.

"All we wanted to see if the goat really did talk," James said defensively.

"Talking goats?" Lily said faintly.

"Yeah, he has a talking goat," James replied happily. "They are so cool."

"Why does he have a talking goat?" Lily asked only to be shushed by all of them as they approached the door.

"Do we knock?" Lily asked.

"I say we go right on in," Marlene said, pushing the door open.

Sirius wasn't sure what he had been expecting but what they saw wasn't it. There was the usual mixture of oddballs in the bar. A couple of grubby looking people, that person who always wore a hood over their face, three very flamboyantly dressed men and a woman who wore a top hat. None of them looked sober. And then there was Dumbledore in the far corner somehow not looking out of place at all.

They all sort of froze in the doorway, not knowing what to do.

"Get your arses in and close the door," Abe shouted at them. "Who raised you? Don't let the heat out."

That got them moving and they did as they were told, stamping snow off their feet. Dumbledore gestured them over and they all sort of hoovered at the end of his table until he gestured them all to sit down.

It was one of the few tables in a booth design so they all crowded together opposite their old Headmaster. They were a bit cramped but none of them wanted to take the liberty to sit next to him. Well, Sirius definitely didn't want to. It would be too weird.

Pleasantries were exchanged but they all soon lapsed into silence as Dumbledore stared at them. Sirius found himself shifting uncomfortably. Why did he get the sudden feeling that he was in trouble?

Dumbledore linked his fingers together as he rested his elbows on the table.

"First I feel that I must ask you if the phrase "Order of the Phoenix" means anything to you?"

They all shook their heads. Now, they all obviously knew what a phoenix was but that's where their knowledge ended. Even Remus was looking confused about this. Remus.

"The second thing I must ask of you is for you to make an oath that you will not reveal to anyone outside of those of you that are currently present what takes place in this meeting." He sounded an awful lot more serious now. "Of course, you are free to go now if you so choose and not make the oath."

Sirius didn't know about the others but that made him want to stay all the more. There were some murmurs and looking sideways at each other before everyone agreed to make an oath. Six wands flashed briefly as they did so and Sirius noticed that Dumbledore relaxed imperceptibly.

Dumbledore then went on to explain what exactly he was talking about. It was an organisation je had founded in response to the threat of Voldemort. Or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, which is what people preferred to call him but whatever. It gathered information. Kept people safe. Tried to keep one step ahead. It all sounded very mysterious and intriguing. Kind of like a spy organisation.

"What branch of Law Enforcement does this fall under?" Remus asked with a frown.

Huh. That was a good point. Certainly, no mention had been made of it so far during Auror Training but they weren't sworn in or anything so maybe that was it.

"You see, the Order of the Phoenix isn't exactly an official group," he said carefully.

James' eyebrows rose. "So, it's like a sponsored group? A connected one?"

"No. It has no affiliation to the Ministry at all."

Oh. Well, this was a bit odd. More than a bit odd. What exactly was Dumbledore running here?

"It's not illegal, is it?" Lily asked sharply.

"No," Dumbledore was quick to reassure her. "But not a great many people know about us and we would prefer to keep it that way."

He let them sit on that for a minute. What exactly did that mean? Would they get in trouble if they were found out? Did the Ministry really not know? But this was Dumbledore, he wouldn't be doing things that weren't right. Right?

"What about Severus?" James said suddenly. "You know, Severus Snape? Have you talked to him as well?"

"Yeah," Lily said with a smile on her face. "Jed be good for this sort of thing as well. He's really good at Potions. Healing Potions, antidotes, everything."

"As are you, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said to her, making her blush.

Yeah, yeah, they already knew that but he wasn't answering the question.

"Severus Snape is under consideration," Dumbledore finally told them as they all looked at him expectantly.

Well, what were they supposed to say to that? That it was a good thing? Try to persuade him or what? Dumbledore obviously had his reasons, Sirius was sure. It wasn't like they could offer him anything more, could they?

"He's really good," Lily said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "Now, do any of you have any questions? Keeping in mind that I simply cannot explain much due to the secrecy of the organisation."

Now that just made it sound all the more tantalising. But they all shook their heads. If he couldn't explain then what was the point in asking?

"Of course, it goes without saying that please do not discuss this with anyone outside of the people you see here," Dumbledore requested politely in that tone you really knew better than to disobey.

Though, who in the right mind would disobey Albus Dumbledore? That was just ridiculous and that was coming from Sirius.

They all nodded their agreement and Dumbledore gave a satisfied smile.

"Now, do think your decisions through before giving me it," he instructed them, standing up. "And stay safe, all of you."

"You too, Professor," James said sincerely.

Friday 10th November 1978

Auror Academy, 09:30

"Alright, next pair is Longbottom and," Williams looked down at his piece of parchment in the clipboard and frowned. "Longbottom? That can't be right..."

Everyone snickered at his confusion but one glared quelled them. No one wanted to do twenty rounds of spell chains or twenty laps. Both were Exhausting and made your muscles ache for days afterwards.

"Longbottom, what's your first initial? I think we have a misprint here."

"My name's Frank," Frank replied, trying to keep his amusement off his face.

Hey, it was getting funny. All their instructors went on and on about them being careful and exact and precise and any other synonym meaning the same thing. Mistakes were not something they were supposed to make. It could cost you a life. That's what had been drilled into them. But then an instructor went and made a mistake. It was funny. Okay, maybe not that funny but they'd take what they could.

"So that makes you F. Longbottom," Williams mattered. "And A. Longbottom doesn't exist."

"Yes, sir?" Alice asked, stepping out from the crowd of trainees looking quite nervous.

"What is it?" Williams asked. "Do you need something?"

Alice gave him a confused look. "You needed me? You said my name."

"No, I said Longbottom." Williams pointed at Frank. "Him."

"But you said both," she replied. "F. Longbottom and A. Longbottom. I'm Alice Longbottom."

Frank stared at her. She had updated her paperwork? When had she done that? Not that it was a bad thing, it was a good thing. A great thing. Because she wasn't a Smith anymore, she was a Longbottom. But when had she done it?

"You're Alice Longbottom?" Williams said sceptically. "I thought your name was Smith?"

"It was. I mean I am," Alice stuttered put, looking really flustered. "I mean, used to be Smith. Alice Smith. But now I'm not."

Williams' eyebrows were going further and further up his head. They'd disappear if they went any further. Frank didn't blame him; Alice was starting to ramble but he couldn't out a hand over her mouth or anything to get her to stop. That would be incredibly unprofessional not to mention inappropriate.

"I'm afraid I'm not following, Smith," he said slowly. "Or is it Longbottom?"

"Longbottom, sir."

And now only one of his eyebrows were raised.

"I applied as Alice Smith," she explained.

"We got married over the summer," Frank felt like he should be the one to add.

"Huh."

Williams looked confused. Frank didn't think he had ever seen Williams look confused. It was a weird look on him. Like it didn't belong.

Surely this wasn't a difficult concept to grasp? People got married all the time. Surely there had been a married couple in the Auror Office before? Women had been allowed to be Aurors for at least twenty years by now. Probably more.

Sure, maybe women like Alice weren't expected to ever become an Auror - or even get a job, let's be honest here, but still. This shouldn't be confusing.

"So, you really did get married then?"

"Yes, sir."

Frank restrained himself from sighing. How many times were they going to have to say that? It was starting to get a bit insulting. But still their instructor said nothing. Neither did anyone else around them. Their fellow trainees were all watching everything unfold far too eagerly in Frank's opinion. It wasn't like they had done anything wrong!

"I updated all my paperwork." Alice added helpfully.

"I'll be checking that," Williams told her.

"Yes, sir."

He didn't say anything, instead he stood in front of them with his arms crossed. Then he let out a big sigh and let his arms flop to his sides.

"Alright then, two Longbottoms," he said and they both nodded. "Okay. You two good pairing up."

"Yes, Auror Williams." "Yes, sir."

"Good. Right. You," he pointed at Alice. "Are going to dothe tracking. And you-" he pointed and Frank. "Are going to be doing the concealing. If you're found, she wins. If you're not, you do. Understand?"

"Understand."

This ought to be interesting.

Longbottom Manor, 21:30

"That was weird, wasn't it weird?" Alice said as they were getting ready for bed.

Well, he was already in bed. Alice was brushing her hair.

"What was weird?"

"Today! It was weird."

"You mean that exercise we did?" Frank checked, making sure they were on the same page.

He had made that mistake before and they'd both gotten horribly confused over what conversation they were having.

"Yeah!"

Frank frowned. "That wasn't difficult. We both did well on it."

Sure, Alice had managed to detect him quicker than he would have liked but it was still an improvement on his part from last year so he would take it. And, like je said, Alice had done really well. That was something to be excited over.

"Yeah, but it was weird."

Frank was just about to ask what exactly was weird about it when Alice continued talking.

"Working together like that. Or against, I suppose. That was weird."

"It was bound to happen at some point. We are both trainees," Frank pointed out though he hoped he wasn't going to be soon. "It's inevitable that we'd get paired up, there's not a lot of people."

As was usual for about three months in, a good number of people had dropped out. Couldn't handle the stress. Wasn't what they thought it was going to be. Whatever. There were fewer people.

"I guess," Alice said.

"But yes, it was still weird," Frank agreed.

Wednesday 15th November 1978

Marauders' Flat, 19:00

For the first time in weeks, they were all actually in the apartment for dinner and after dinner. Without any of them falling asleep or anything! Which had been happening as of late, especially for James and Sirius. Auror Training was long and exhausting and they always had to be alert. This meant that when they came home (and yes, the apartment was really starting to feel like home) they just wanted to fill their stomachs and then collapse. Maybe shower but that was a big maybe. James didn't necessarily like the idea, he liked being clean and all but sometimes it was just too much. And other time he just couldn't move his arms above waist height, his muscles ached so much.

He had noticed that Remus couldn't even go near either of their boots anymore, that's how hard they had been working.

Speaking of Remus, he was one of the reasons they all weren't busy this evening doing other things. It was the day after the full moon and he was very obviously exhausted. And because he still insisted on going to his parents' house for the full moon it meant that none of them knew how that turned out until the following evening. And none of them wanted to let him out of their sight.

Though they probably should wash them or something. Air freshener spell only did so much and they didn't even last very long on the shoes anymore which was more than a little worrying.

But tonight, he was actually sitting upright on the sofa and in the mood to chat and have a little fun. They had even cracked out the Exploding Snap cards, had some music playing and the fire was crackling in the fireplace. It was all nice and cosy and relaxing.

"We're, we're going to do this, right?" Peter broke the silence. "This Order of Dumbledore's?"

"The Order of the Phoenix," Sirius said with a relish. "It even sounds cool."

"Definitely," James. "It's all secret and mysterious and it means that we get to protect people."

Be couldn't see anything wrong with it.

"But you two are already going to be helping protect the Wizarding World," Remus pointed out. "You're going to be Aurors. That's kind of the whole point of becoming an Auror."

"Yeah, but this is a secret society, Moony. It's going to be so much cooler than being an Auror."

"I think being an Auror is cool," Peter said.

"It is," James assured him. "Or, it will be. When we become Aurors." Sirius nodded at this. "But we're not Aurors yet but we could be helpful while we're training!"

"And when we do become Aurors, we can be doubly helpful!" Sirius added.

He and James exchanged high fives at that. Yeah! That's what James was talking about.

Remus was shaking his head at both of them. "It could be an awful lot of work," he warned them.

"But it's for the War, Remus."

They all had to do something about it, didn't they? And here was something offered up to them on a silver platter.

"It's the right thing to do," Sirius added.

"I know that," Remus said in exasperation. "That's not what I meant."

"We know," James said, patting him on the back. "But we won't overwork ourselves."

"How do you know? We don't even know what we'll be expected to do."

"We'll work something out," Peter said. "We always do."

Saturday 25th November 1978

Entrance Hall, 10:30

Regulus couldn't help but allow himself to strut a little. He felt like he had earned the right to. He was a Seventh Year. A Prefect. Sure, he wasn't Head Boy or anything but everyone knew that Dumbledore was biased against Slytherin. That didn't matter. What mattered was his standing in the school. In Slytherin House in particular. Of which he was top of. Sure, in recent years he had been pretty high up there simply because of his surname but now he was really coming into his own. And he owed it all to the Dark Lord.

You couldn't get that sort of admiration from your family name. No, being attached to someone as great as the Dark Lord brought all of that. Brough envy. Fear. It was great. Especially since it is exactly what his Family needed.

Yes, he was definitely feeling pretty proud of himself. Then he caught sight of that muggleborn Ravenclaw, the one with the red curly hair, roll her eyes at him. He came to a stop and frowned. No one rolled their eyes at him. Especially not a pathetic muggleborn. Just who did she think she was? The audacity.

"What do you think you're doing, Mudblood?" Regulus demanded.

She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to look calm and collected but he knew she was nervous. She was horrible at covering up her feelings.

"I have a name, you know," she said in a shaking voice.

"Eh, not an important one," he dismissed with a smirk, making all of his friends laugh.

What was even better was that she looked like she didn't have any idea what to do. Whether to retort, to walk away, to complain. It was hilarious. And incredibly stupid but that was probably because she was a muggleborn.

"Aw, don't have your big, Gryffindor sister to protect you," Alecto mocked in a baby voice.

"Shut up, Carrow."

"Oh, how original," Avery sneered.

He had a very good sneer. Perfect for putting people in their place. And a lot of people around here needed to be put in their place.

"Just go away."

Of course, none of them listened to her, she was only a mudblood and they didn't listen to mudbloods. How dare she think that they would listen to her! See? This is what happened when you had someone like Dumbledore in charge of a school. People like her got ideas that were above their station. His parents were absolutely right. Of course, he always believed them but this was proof.

"It think you should go away," Regulus told her.

Because she should. Her type shouldn't be allowed anywhere near him and if he wanted to go somewhere he was well then, she was the one who should be getting out of the way. That was just how the world should work.

"I have just as much right to be here as you do!"

Regulus looked her up and down and sneered. "I very much doubt that."

"I bet she's going to cry again," Amycus said. "She did the last time."

"I did not!"

Regulus made a scoffing noise. You'd have to be deaf not to not to hear the tremor in her voice. Pathetic.

They hadn't even done anything and she was always quiet. Pathetic and week. No strength whatsoever.

And there she was running away. Huh. Toom her long enough.