Piles of clothes were spread everywhere across Amy's bedroom, after she desperately tried to find the perfect outfit for dinner with her former school mates. She needed something that said 'I got my life together, but I'm still having the best time of my life', even if she knew, both of these statements were only partly true.
Would this black skintight dress be too formal? The others have always been rather casual back then, but were they still like that? Another reminder of how little she actually knew about the Gryffindors she once shared classes with, since none of them made an effort to stay in contact. Not that they were obligated to, Amy couldn't be bothered to try either, because they haven't been friends in Hogwarts - just students that happened to be in the same year and got along without any noteworthy incidents. They haven't been friends, so why would they invite her anyway?

'Screw it', she thought and went with the first things she had tried, a pair of pitch black skinny jeans, a burgundy blouse, her cream coat and a pair of every-day black ankle boots, before she cast a tidying spell, that made the mountains of unused clothing float back neatly into the wardrobe.
She fished the piece of paper with Lily's and James' address out of the back pocket of her working trousers, took a deep breath to concentrate, before she closed her eyes and disapparated.

Amy arrived directly at their doorstep, as she had intended.
'Still got it, not a bit rusty', she thought, as she raised her hand to knock on the door, but ended up hesitating, wondering if she really was welcome - for Godric's sake, she didn't even know anyone in there properly.
What if she wouldn't connect with this group of best friends? What if they had no topics to talk about, resulting in awkward silence, while cutlery scratched on dirty plates?
She quickly shook off those thoughts, they had invited her, after all. It would be fine. And if not, she could leave and never had to see anyone, except for Remus, again. So she exhaled sharply and finally knocked three times.

The door swung open, Sirius standing in the frame. "Thought you'd never knock", he said jokingly. "Second guessing?"

"Reconsidering maybe", she said with a slight smile, as she stepped in. "Did you watch me?"

"I heard you apparating outside and came to check who it was", Sirius told her and pointed at the spyhole. "Hello by the way", he added and leant in to air kiss each of her cheeks, his stubble ghosting her skin.

"Hi", she breathed in between them, wondering when this form of greeting has become a thing, while she unbuttoned her coat.

"Let me help you with that", he said and took it off her shoulders. "The others are in the living room, over there."

Amy went through the half open door into the cosy room, which had a nice little fireplace next to two small sofas, some bookshelves in the corner and a dinner table on the other side of it. Remus was leaning against a chair, talking to James, both turning their heads her way, when she approached them.
Each of the two shook her hand and pulled her a little closer by the shoulder, greeting her with a warm hug - no air kisses this time.

Before they could start talking, Amy felt something gripping her pinky and pulling on it. She turned around and looked down to a small boy, who was without doubt the Potters' son. Every inch of his face, including his wild black hair and a mini version of round glasses, looked like an exact copy of James, except for the green eyes - they were Lily's. He was about one meter tall, reaching a little bit above her hips, so Amy squatted to match his size.

"Hi there", she said as he still held her pinky, yet didn't look into her eyes as she spoke.

"Who are you?", he asked and swung her hand from left to right gently.

"I'm Amy. And who are you?"

"Harry", he said with a grin, before he finally made eye contact again. "Are you uncle Padfoot's girlfriend?"

"What?", she laughed. "Who is uncle Padfoot?"

Harry turned around and pointed at Sirius, who just entered the living room, making Amy raise her brows, which led Harry to giggle, swinging her hand more powerfully.

"No, I'm not his girlfriend. Why did you think that?", she asked.

He let her hand go and began to explain, using various gestures to emphasize his words: "Uncle said a new friend would come today. And you're a girl, you know. A friend who is a girl, is a girlfriend, obviously."

James and Remus snorted at his cute answer and Amy bit back her laughter, saying: "Sounds very logical to me. Maybe your Dad will explain what a girlfriend is, some time."

Sirius joined them and ruffled up Harry's hair even more. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Girlfriends", Harry told him and clumsily tried to fix the mess on his head.

Amy stood up laughing and looked over to Remus and James, who have been watching them amusedly.

"Lily's in the kitchen, if you want to say Hello", James whispered to her and gave her a chance to escape, before Harry would demand more details regarding girlfriends. She smiled thankfully and pointed to the door on the other side of the room, raising her brows questioningly, to which James nodded.

Entering the kitchen, Amy found Lily preparing dinner, surrounded by steaming pots and pans, some already cleaning themselves in the sink. She clearly knew how to combine muggle and wizard cooking, as she effortlessly swung her wand, as well as a wooden spoon.

"Sorry to interrupt you", Amy raised her voice, to not get drowned by the steaming and sizzling sounds from the stove. "Can I help out somehow?"

"Oh hi Amy", Lily cooed, turning her way and greeted her with a small hug. "No way you're helping, you're our guest."

"Alright then. Thank you for the invitation by the way. I wouldn't have thought that Remus and you wanted me to drop by", Amy mentioned.

"Remus and I?", Lily asked, before she dipped a spoon into the pot with gravy and gave it a taste.

"Yeah, Sirius said you wanted to meet again. Because we were fellow prefects back in school."

"Oh... Right. I think Sirius may have fibbed you there. He was the one who asked us if he could invite you."

"What?"

"Yes, actually I wasn't really sure about bringing someone new to our house, given the circumstances. But Remus and him assured that you're trustworthy. So we agreed and we're happy to have you here now."

Great start. They didn't even want her to come and now she was there, a gatecrasher, untrustworthy at that. She could already sense the awkward silence that was going to linger during dinner.

"I'm really sorry. I can leave if you want. Sirius told me... He... That git", Amy struggled for words, her embarrassment spreading in dark red on her cheeks.

Lily took a step towards her, trying to calm her down: "No, stay. Please. As I said, I'm really happy to have you and we all need a breath of fresh air in here. If I really didn't want you to come, I wouldn't have let him invite you."


Peter arrived just in time for dinner, the others joking about his bad habit of always being late, but never late for food. He shook Amy's hand quickly, his skin was sweaty and he seemed tired, yet jittery. She remembered how Peter has always been the shyest of the group, in school. He had been chubby back then, still was somehow, but he looked like he had lost some weight recently.

They sat down at the table, three people at each long side of it and Harry at the top, in his highchair. Lily sat next to him, with James and Peter on one side, while Amy sat on the opposite, Sirius to her left and Remus to her right.

Lily had really outdone herself with the dinner she prepared, it was delicious. While everyone munched on it, they talked about the things they have been up to since Hogwarts.

James had ditched his Quidditch career, because he didn't want to show himself in public all the time and had become an Auror for the ministry, while Lily stayed at home with Harry, for now.
Remus worked at Being Division, Peter at Obliviator Headquarters - both in the ministry as well, making Amy wonder how 75 percent of the infamous marauders managed to get those jobs.
Sirius told that he had also applied as Auror, but got rejected each time, due to his family's reputation of glorifying dark magic. He eventually accepted the ministry's decision and started a business as a tattoo artist, after apprenticing enchanted body art.

They wanted to know how Amy got her job at J. Pippin's Potions, so she explained that she went to Greenock, straight after Hogwarts.
Professor Slughorn had offered her to go there and get vocational training in Potions, from his dear friend Ilona Marth. A chance she couldn't deny, so she accepted and had been living there for two years.

"So you're a Potions master now, right?", Remus asked, as he put the last bit of mashed potatoes on his fork.

"I am, yes. And sort of a Mediwizard too, as they go hand in hand", Amy replied.

"And you never thought about teaching in Hogwarts?", Lily asked impressed.

"Not really. I wanted to experience the 'real life' outside of school for a while. Maybe some day, but as far as I know, they got Severus as a Potions master at Hogwarts now."

"Gosh, Snape", Sirius mumbled before sipping on his wine.

"Yeah, I think we can agree not to talk about Snivellus again", James jokingly added.

"James", Lily rolled her eyes at him and got up to pick up Harry from his chair, before she went upstairs with him and put him to sleep.


Conversations went on very easily, against Amy's expectations. They had a lot to talk about, possibly because they still needed to get to know each other.
After her second glass of wine, Amy was confident enough to ask the burning question she had been thinking of, for a while.

"So, are the rumors true?", she asked carefully. "Did you-know-who attack you?"

The others shared a quick glance, seemingly looking if someone disagreed with telling. As no one intervened, James said: "He tried. But we were prepared."

Lily went on: "We used various protection spells on our house and made Sirius our secret keeper, so no one can find it, unless he tells them. We're safe here, but have to watch out everywhere else."

That's why she has been unsure about Amy. Sirius revealed their secret to her.
"Where is he now?", Amy kept asking.

Remus began to explain: "He and his Death Eaters attacked us during a mission for the Order."

"The Order?"

"Guys, don't you think it's a little early for disclosing that?", Peter whispered, picking his fingernails.

"Don't kick up a fuss, Wormtail", Sirius shushed him.

"We're all part of an organisation called The Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore founded it years ago and we joined right after school", Remus continued to explain.

"We could use a Potions master slash Mediwizard among us, actually", James said invitingly.

"And what exactly does the Order do?", Amy asked, more baffled than anxious.

"Guys", Peter tried to stop them, in a breathy tone. "Enough!"

"Shut it Peter!", Sirius simply clipped.

"We're fighting Voldemort and his allies, trying to destroy them", James told her.

Lily ran her finger on the rim of her wine glass and sighed. "You surely have heard of the prophecy about Harry. Since Voldemort found out about it, he tried to kill my boy, along with all of us. But we managed to fight him off. We damaged him pretty severely last time."

"Damaged?"

"He escaped. I don't think he's dead, just very weak", Lily went on.

"I tried to find them multiple times, but the Death Eaters always seem to be one step ahead of my plans", James conceded and shook his head slightly.

Peter suddenly jumped up from his chair, drawing everyone's attention to him.
"I said enough!", he hissed. "You invite a stranger to our house and credulously tell her all of the things we swore to keep a secret, after we had dinner once?! And even ask her to join the Order, despite knowing nothing about her. She could be a spy!"

There was the awkward silence. They watched him open mouthed, as he stood there in rage, chest heaving heavily.

"I, I'm sorry", Amy mumbled. "I didn't -"

"Peter", James tried to stay calm. "First of all, this isn't your house. It's Lily's and mine."

"I'm aware of that. Amy, this is nothing personal, but I can't believe you guys just trust any stranger Sirius obviously just wants to shag", it blurted out of him.

"What the fuck, Peter! Are you out of your mind?", Sirius shouted, as he got up himself.

"Okay, I'm going to head home now", Amy interrupted them, both angered and humiliated. "I'm sorry I caused this. Thank you for dinner, it was lovely, Lily. It's been nice seeing all of you again. Peter." She looked at him one last time, his face wrapped in a frown, before she headed to the door.


"Wait! Don't go", Sirius tried to stop her, as she put on her coat. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He's talking utter bullshit."

"Well, I can't know that. Because he's right. We don't know each other. You don't know if I can be trusted. But I can assure you, I'm not a quick shag", she replied, hastily buttoning up her jacket and walked outside.

Sirius followed her, grunting: "He knew that would make you leave. That's why he said it. Bastard."

Amy stopped on the doorstep, turned around to face him and said: "I'm certainly not staying if someone inside clearly doesn't want me there."

He sighed, reached into his back pocket, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one with his wand, taking a drag before answering: "I understand that." He blew out a cloud of smoke and continued: "But you know everyone else thinks you're to be trusted. Peter will settle down. And I don't see you as a quick shag."
He inhaled once more. "I mean. You know I'm always down, but you're not like that."

Amy let her head fall back and laughed at his comment. "You lied to me. Lily told me they didn't want me to come in the first place."

"True", he mumbled. "But would you have agreed to come, if I said that it was only me that wanted you here?"

"Probably not", she admitted.

"See? And aren't you glad you came?", he asked ironically.

"I was until five minutes ago", Amy chuckled once more, while she took a step closer to him, glanced at his lips, were the cigarette lingered and took it from there, between her index and middle finger. His eyes followed her hand, his head neared hers slowly, as his view wandered up to her mouth.

"Good night, Sirius", she whispered, brought the cigarette up to her mouth, took a drag and disapparated.