A/N: This was not supposed to be a chapter. It was supposed to be one scene, two at most. But the longer I worked on it, the longer it became – and now it's its own chapter. I hope you like it!

Prongs1: Um…well…you know I like to stay true to the books…

SgtPepper592: I'm so glad you asked about Remus's Patronus! I was afraid that everyone missed it – or maybe they're just on my wavelength. I chose a unicorn because they are described as a pure animal, and I think that Remus is one of the most pure- and good-hearted people in the HP series. Dumbledore describes Harry as "pure of heart" for his ability to remain opposed to the dark arts despite all his access to them and all that he has suffered. I think Remus has gone through a somewhat similar process because of his werewolf status, especially given what we learned in HBP about werewolves believing that wizards owe them something and/or should be destroyed. I think there is something about the unicorn that reflects Remus's inner self. Thanks for asking!

Patsfan1224: Yes and yes! I just hope I'll be able to do the inner workings of the Order justice.

Princess Myra: Dana and Laura will be as major as their location and Laura's school schedule allow. They're pretty big in this chapter! I hope you like it!

RaysOfHope: Have patience! They'll get together again eventually! (Evil grin!)

Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone!

I don't own Harry Potter.

An Afternoon in France

Sirius was bored.

He had been staying with Remus for nearly two weeks. Although he loved being reunited with his old friend, it was tedious to stay in the house all the time. Remus wouldn't let him so much as go outside to care for Buckbeak; he was terrified that Ministry wizards or dementors would find him if he set foot outside the house. Sirius knew that Remus was right in his concern, but that fact didn't stop him from feeling annoyed with the restrictions. It was difficult to watch Remus leave to go somewhere as simple as Diagon Alley while Sirius was forced to remain inside the house.

He had taken to reading the Daily Prophet to amuse himself, but that activity quickly lost its appeal as the paper printed more and more stories that attempted to destroy Harry's character. The paper tended to make him so angry that Remus would now only allow him to see the page dedicated to the crossword puzzle.

Sirius was working on the Sunday edition of the puzzle when Remus came down the stairs. He looked up to see his host wearing his traveling cloak.

"Where are you off to?"

Remus gave him a smile. "To France."

Sirius's eyes rounded into huge saucers. "Really?"

"Yes. I promised Laura I'd come to visit today. Granted, I was supposed to be there for at least a week, but I'm sure the ladies will all understand that I need to come home today once I tell them what's going on here."

"Remus – take me with you."

Remus sighed; he had expected this. "Sirius, you know I can't."

"I know," Sirius sighed. "Just thought I'd try."

"Any messages you'd like to send along?"

Sirius gave him a grin. "None that I'd like for you to deliver."

Remus laughed and shook his head. "I'd rather stay blissfully uninformed, thank you."

Sirius laughed. "That's probably for the best."

"I won't be long," Remus said as he took the Floo powder from the mantle.

"I'll be here," Sirius said a bit glumly.

"See you in a bit," Remus replied with what he hoped was a sympathetic smile.

He flung the Floo powder into the grate and called Dana's address. Then he was swallowed by green flames and faded from view. Sirius turned back to his crossword, knowing that he wouldn't be able to concentrate on it or anything else until Remus came home.

"Uncle Remus!"

Remus laughed as Laura threw herself into his arms the moment he stepped out of the grate. "Laura, I'm covered his ashes," he protested.

"I don't care!" she replied, clinging to him. "We haven't seen you in forever! Where have you been?"

"I've been doing some work for Professor Dumbledore," he said, hugging her tightly.

"Really? Did he give you your job back, then?"

"No, it's a different job," Remus said slowly.

"Remus!" Dana exclaimed as she came into the kitchen. "I thought I heard Laura talking to someone. She's been waiting for you to get here all morning."

"Hi, Dana," Remus grinned, folding her, too, into an embrace. "Did Olivia make it over?"

"I'm right here," Olivia said as she followed Dana into the kitchen. She hugged Remus tightly. "What's new with you?"

"Quite a bit," Remus said as he pulled away.

"Let's sit down," Dana said. "Laura, can you make us some tea, please?"

"I want to talk to Uncle Remus, too," she protested.

"We'll have a nice, long chat later," Remus promised.

"We do have all week," Laura said brightly.

"Well, sweetheart, I'm not going to be able to stay all week," Remus said slowly. "I actually have to leave tonight."

"What?" she cried, her face falling. "But you always come for a week over the summer!"

"I know, sweetheart, and I wish more than anything that I could stay for a week, but things just aren't working out for that to happen right now." He paused. "But, if your mum and Aunt Olivia agree to it, I thought that maybe all three of you could come to visit me a little later this summer."

"Really?" Laura exclaimed. "Oh, Mum, can we? Please? We hardly ever get to go to England, and I'd love to go visit Uncle Remus! Please?"

"We'll see," Dana said noncommittally. "First you make some tea and let me chat with Uncle Remus and Aunt Olivia."

"All right," Laura agreed, considerably more cheerfully now that the offer of a visit to England was on the table.

Dana watched as her daughter reached up to grab a teakettle, then ushered her friends ahead of her out of the kitchen. She turned back to Laura just before following them out the door.

"Remember, Laura, no magic," she cautioned.

"I know," Laura said, making a face.

Dana smiled as she left the kitchen, letting the door fall closed behind her.

"So," Olivia said as Dana joined them in the living room, "Remus, tell us what is so vitally important that you can't stay for any longer than a day this summer."

"The Order of the Phoenix," he replied simply.

Both Olivia and Dana stared at him.

"What?" Olivia finally managed to whisper.

"Dumbledore's calling the Order back into service."

"My God," Dana muttered. She stared off into space for a moment. "I thought we had put all that behind us years ago," she said, still looking away from her friends.

"Remus, what's happened?" Olivia asked, willing herself to remain calm.

Remus drew a deep breath. "You both saw that Harry won the Triwizard, right?"

"It took me some time to find it," Dana admitted. "I couldn't believe how short the story was! They had put an insane amount of coverage on the tournament and him right up to that point."

Remus nodded. "That's because the Ministry doesn't want the real news behind it getting out. Girls, when Harry touched the Triwizard Cup, he was transported to a cemetery in Little Hangleton and forced to participate in Voldemort's rebirth."

"What?" Olivia gasped.

"He's back?" Dana whispered in horror.

"He's back," Remus confirmed.

"How can he be back?" Olivia asked, her face horrified. "I haven't heard anything about it at work – the Aurors should have been among the first to find out about this."

"Oh, God," Dana whispered. "Oh, God, no. Not again. I can't do this again."

"It's not going to be like last time, Dana," Remus said quickly.

"How can you say that?" Dana asked.

"Nothing's the same now," Remus said. "We know about it this time. We've had advance warning of what's coming. As soon as he made it back to Hogwarts, Harry told Dumbledore what had happened – and Dumbledore immediately went into action."

"Didn't he tell the Ministry?" Dana asked. "Olivia's right; she should have been informed. You said that they didn't want the real news getting out . . . What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Oh, Dumbledore told Fudge," Remus said. "But, unfortunately, Fudge doesn't want to believe him or Harry – and so he does not."

"So he's just going about business as usual, letting this madman rise to power all over again?" Olivia shrieked.

"Pretty much," Remus sighed.

"Politicians!" Olivia yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. "Can't they see that some things are more important than immediate popularity?"

"No," Dana said, "they can't. And if you don't stop screaming –"

"Is everything all right?" Laura asked, stepping into the room carrying a tea tray.

"- You're going to scare Laura," Dana finished. She shook her head. "We're fine, sweetheart. Uncle Remus just gave us some surprising news, that's all."

"What kind of news?" she asked, sitting down.

Remus looked at Dana. "You might as well tell her," he said. "I'm sure Dumbledore has told his students by now."

"Oh, all right," Dana sighed, a bit annoyed. "Laura, you remember when I told you about the war that we fought in before you were born?"

Laura nodded seriously. "When Dad died?"

"Yes," Dana sighed. "Well, the man that we were fighting is back."

Laura frowned. "But I thought you said that he died. You said that Harry killed him."

"No, honey, I said that Harry beat him. And that's true. When Voldemort tried to kill Harry, he couldn't. Harry beat him in that battle, and made him – well, not vanish, exactly, but go away for years. He lost his body, at any rate. But he found a spell to regenerate his body, and now . . ." She trailed off, and looked at Remus.

"Now he's working on regrouping his followers," Remus said. "But we're bringing our side back together, too, Laura. That's what I've been doing for Professor Dumbledore. I've been helping to reform the Order of the Phoenix."

"You were in that before, weren't you, Mum?"

"Yes," Dana said, "for a little while. Uncle Remus and Aunt Olivia were in it, too."

"How did you find all this out, Remus?" Olivia asked before Laura had time to respond.

"Sirius came and found me on Dumbledore's orders," he said.

Olivia's eyes rounded. "You've seen Sirius?"

"He's been staying with me for two weeks."

She jumped up from her chair and began pacing around the room, twisting her hands together. "Can I – no, never mind."

"He wants to see you," Remus said quietly. He looked around at Dana and Laura. "All of you. He was just telling me that he still thinks of Laura as a baby."

"Is that why you want us to come to England?" Dana asked. "To see Sirius?"

"Well, and to see me," he grinned.

"Who's Sirius?" Laura asked.

Remus glanced at Dana. "Keeping her in the dark?"

"Yes," Laura said before Dana could open her mouth. "She never tells me anything! What's going on? Who is this person?"

"Sirius was one of our friends at school," Remus said slowly. "We were all in the Order together. But then, when James and Lily," he paused. "Do you know who James and Lily were?"

"Harry's parents?" Laura asked, frowning as though trying to remember this bit of information.

"Yes, that's right," Remus replied. "Well, when they died, we all thought that Sirius had been their Secret Keeper. We thought that only he knew where to find them, and that the only way that anyone else could find them was for him to tell that person where they were." He paused again. "It's called the Fidelius Charm – the magic they used to do that. It's supposed to hide you."

"We talked about it in Charms," Laura nodded.

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Very impressive."

"Laura's in the advanced level of Charms," Dana said with a trace of pride in her voice. "They do things a bit differently than Hogwarts."

Remus nodded. "Okay, so you understand the charm. So, you have to understand that we all thought that Sirius was the Potters' Secret Keeper. When they died, we thought that he had betrayed them. Then we believed that he had killed thirteen other people trying to run from the Ministry and from Voldemort – who we believed to be his master." He sighed. "We were very wrong about all of this for a very long time. We just found out the truth a year ago – that Sirius never did anything that we thought that he had done, and that he had spent twelve years in Azkaban for no reason . . ."

"He was my fiancé," Olivia said in a strangled voice. "We were going to be married, but then –"

"We were all very wrong," Dana said, repeating Remus's words. "We should have known better, but in a situation like that, you just don't know who or what to believe."

"How could you not believe your friend?" Laura asked.

"Because we were in a terrible, horrifying war," Dana said. "Every day, people were showing their true allegiances – and they weren't always the allegiances you believed they had. Someone you thought was an upstanding Auror was suddenly a Death Eater. People you had known your whole live were arrested for torturing Muggles." She shuddered. "You just didn't know who you could trust, and you had to believe the evidence for what it was."

"And in this case, Sirius, James and Lily had all told us that Sirius would be their Secret Keeper," Remus added. "They changed to Peter at the last moment without telling anyone – they wanted to keep it quiet to protect him and James and Lily. Unfortunately, everything sort of backfired and blew up in their faces."

"Quite literally," said Olivia, who was beginning to shake.

Remus looked at her for a moment. "Listen, Liv, if you don't want to see him, you don't have to. I just thought I'd make the suggestion –"

"Of course I want to," she said quickly. "I just – I can't do it right now. Can I have some time to get ready?"

"Of course," Remus replied. "You can have all the time in the world. It's probably better if you don't come until we have a definite headquarters established, anyway."

Olivia nodded, but remained silent.

"Remus, I feel like a lot of pieces are missing in this," Dana said, trying to take the spotlight away from Olivia.

Remus nodded. "Let me tell you the whole story."

The ladies provided him a rapt audience for the next twenty minutes. Both Dana and Olivia looked nauseous as he described the potion that Voldemort used to regenerate his body, but neither interrupted him. They both knew better than to suggest that this story was anything other than the truth. They both knew all that Voldemort was capable of. Laura looked shocked, but Remus knew that she deserved to know the truth of what was happening. With all that the Ministry and the Prophet were doing to discredit Harry's story, getting the truth out was more vital than anything else.

"And so Dumbledore wants to be proactive about this," Remus concluded. "That's why he's calling the Order together quietly. He doesn't want to draw attention to us any more than Voldemort wants to draw attention to himself."

"Are you asking us to rejoin, Remus?" Olivia asked.

"I haven't talked to Dumbledore yet, so I don't know anything for sure," Remus replied. "I'm not sure if he wants to confine things to England right now, or if he's ready to branch out into the rest of Europe."

"Well, when you do, tell him that I'm ready to join again," she said firmly.

"Liv, are you sure?" Remus asked quietly.

"Yes," she said fiercely. "I've fought this evil before and I'm more than ready to do it again. Voldemort robbed us all of far more than he should ever have been allowed to. I want to do all in my power to make sure that this time, things are different."

"I'll tell him," Remus said, smiling at her.

"I'll join, too," Laura said suddenly.

"Laura," Remus began.

"No," Dana said harshly. "No, you most certainly will not."

"Mum, stop being like that!" Laura exclaimed. "I'm not a little girl! I want to help, I want to be a part of this –"

"You don't have a clue what you're saying!" Dana yelled. "Laura, people died every single day fighting against Voldemort last time! You have no idea how dangerous it is, or how much is at stake!"

"You did it!" Laura yelled back, jumping out of her seat. "You joined the Order and you fought him!"

"I was already done with school when I joined," Dana said. "I was far more than fourteen years old."

"Far more," Laura repeated sarcastically. "Mum, you were eighteen. I don't see how four years make such a difference."

"It makes all the difference in the world!" Dana jumped up, and grabbed Laura by her shoulders. "Laura, by the time I joined the Order, one of my best friends and my father had both died. They had both been killed by Death Eaters! Do you have any idea how horrible it is to see the people that you love murdered by these people? Do you think I want to see you go through that? No! I want you to stay as far away from this as you possibly can!"

"Dad died after you had left the Order," Laura said stubbornly. "I don't see how being a member hurt you."

Dana looked as though she would have dearly loved to slap her daughter across the face, but settled for giving her shoulders a little shake. "For once in your life, Laura, consider that I have far more experience than you in dealing with things like this. You have never seen a war. Never! You have no idea what we are standing at the brink of. None! But you will see. I know that Remus said that things will be different this time, but if the Ministry is refusing to admit what is happening, I can't see how it's going to be much better. It's terrifying, Laura, and I don't want you any closer to this thing than you have to be."

"Mum," Laura began.

"No!" Dana yelled. She looked intently into her daughter's face. "I've already lost your father, Laura. I moved here before you were born so that I wouldn't lose you. We've had a good life here. We've been happy. But, most importantly, we've been safe. War is not romantic and it's not pretty –" She paused as her voice caught in her throat, and pulled Laura into a tight embrace. "I am not going to lose you, Laura Kathleen. Never."

Laura clung to her mother for a moment, and then released her and shook her head. "I just don't want anyone else to have to grow up listening to stories about what a good man her father was." Tears filled her eyes. "The Death Eaters took away any chance that I ever had of meeting my father. Because of them, I've never even seen his face or heard his voice – not even when I was a baby."

"Don't you see?" Dana exclaimed. "That's exactly why I don't want you out there trying to fight! Children don't have a place in war, Laura."

"I'm going to grow up, Mum. I'm going to be old enough to fight someday."

"You will always be my child, Laura," Dana said fiercely. "Always. And if I have anything to say about it, you will not ever have to fight in this war."

"Are you going to fight, then?" she asked defiantly. "You won't let me help, but will you?"

"We're not asking her to, Laura. We're not asking her any more than we're asking you." Remus said gently. He smiled sadly. "Your mother is right. You're too young. Hopefully, this will all be behind us by the time you're old enough to seriously consider joining the Order."

"Let us fight for now, Laura," Olivia added. "This is our war. You'll have plenty of battles of your own ahead of you."

"Fine," Laura said at last. "I won't try to join the Order. But I still want to help."

"The biggest way that you can help us is by believing all that I've told you today," Remus said.

"Of course I believe you," she said in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Quite a few people don't," Remus replied. "There are many people out there who share Fudge's opinion that Harry and Dumbledore are just trying to cause problems. According to Sirius, who was there when Dumbledore told Fudge what had happened in the cemetery, Fudge thinks that Dumbledore is trying to do something to destabilize the wizarding world."

"But why would he think that?" Laura frowned.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Remus shrugged. "But the important thing is that he chooses not to believe what is happening. Many others agree. They don't want to see anything happen to take us back to the place we were before Harry defeated Voldemort fourteen years ago. And so, my little Laura, I want you to believe me – and to stand behind that belief."

"I will," she promised.

"I'm not asking you to start handing out informational packets about Voldemort's rebirth," Remus cautioned. "You keep yourself out of trouble first and foremost. I'm just asking you to be careful and to take care of yourself. And also to keep in touch with me so that I know you're all right."

"I will," she promised again.

Remus smiled, and touched her cheek. "Good girl. I knew I could count on you. If you went to Hogwarts, you'd be a Gryffindor just like the rest of us."

Olivia rose from her seat, and walked out of the room. Remus and Dana looked at one another as they heard the back door open and close.

"I'll go," Dana said, starting to rise from her own seat.

"No, let me," Remus said, putting a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "I've spent the past two weeks with him. I can answer her questions."

Dana put her hand over his. "Just be careful with her."

"I always am."

She nodded, and released his hand. Remus smiled at her, then followed Olivia's path into the kitchen.

He paused at the door, and looked out the window at her. She was standing facing the setting sun, her face bathed in its light. From this angle, Remus couldn't make out her expression, but thought that he could see tears glistening on her cheeks. He drew a deep breath, then went outside.

"You didn't have to follow me," she said without turning as he approached. "I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself."

"But you don't need to," Remus replied. "I want to help you."

"Doesn't that ever get to you?" Olivia asked.

"What?"

"Always being the one to help everyone? Don't you ever need to help yourself, Remus?"

"I know that I have you to help me," he replied evenly.

She turned to look at him, revealing her tear-stained cheeks. "But when was the last time that you took time for yourself? When was the last time that you weren't worrying about someone else? Don't you ever put yourself first?"

"Do you think that if you attack me long enough I won't ask you why you left?"

"You know very well why I left," she said, turning away again.

"You want to know as much about him as you can, don't you?"

A tear slid down her cheek. "Yes," she whispered.

"He's okay, Liv," Remus said softly. "He's scarred by what he's been though, of course. He's not exactly the same Sirius he always was, but in many ways, he still is."

"It's been a long time, Remus," Olivia whispered. "We've all changed. I've changed. You've changed. I wouldn't expect him to still be the same person."

"He still cares about you," Remus continued.

She turned to look at him again. "Does he really?"

"He really does," Remus smiled. "He wanted to come with me to see you today."

She turned away again. "I'm glad you didn't let him."

"Really?"

"I told you before, Remus. I'm not ready. Not yet."

He nodded. "Like I said, Liv, I know he'll wait for you."

Once again, she turned a tear-streaked face to look into his. "I've waited for him," she said quietly.

Unsure of how to respond, Remus remained silent.

"All these years, I've been waiting for him," she continued, almost to herself. "I never realized it, and I never stopped to think about it, but I have been. I've dated other men; you know that. But I never let anyone get as close as he was." She closed her eyes, then opened them again and continued in a whisper. "I never let any one of them love me. I never let myself love any one of them."

Remus knew that there were no appropriate words. He stepped closer, and pulled her into an embrace. She clung to him, trying desperately not to cry.

"I want to see him again, Remus," she whispered.

"I know you do," he said against her hair.

"Will you tell him that for me?" She pulled away to look into his eyes. "Will you tell him that I want to see him, but that I'm just not ready?"

"Yes."

"But be careful about it – don't hurt him."

"I won't."

"And you'll tell me what he says?"

"Of course."

She hugged him again. "You are the most wonderful friend I could ever ask for."

Remus hugged her silently, thinking of what she had said about his tendency to give rather than to receive support. She obviously appreciated the friendship that he offered. Why, then, would she attack the only way he knew to be a friend?

He decided that she had spoken in fear, and that she had not meant to hurt him. He pushed it all aside, and took her hand.

"Are you ready to go back inside?"

"Yes," she smiled.

They walked back into the house together, and were immediately greeted by Dana.

"Remus, this just came for you," she said, holding up a letter.

Remus took the envelope, instantly recognizing the writing. "It's from Dumbledore."

"Open it!" Olivia urged.

He scanned the short missive, then looked up at his friends. "He says he'll be over tomorrow morning to discuss our plans."

"You'd better go home," Dana said at once. "I'm sure that you and Sirius want to get everything together for your meeting."

Remus nodded. "My offer still stands. I would love to have all three of you come to visit later this summer."

"We will," Dana promised. "Liv and I will work out our schedules, and we'll pick some time to visit."

"Good." Remus kissed both of their cheeks. "Where's Laura?"

"Right here," Laura said as she came into the kitchen.

"I need to leave, honey," he said, reaching out to hug her.

"I'll miss you," she said, hugging him tightly.

"I'll miss you even more," he said. He kissed her cheek. "You stay out of trouble."

She grinned with a twinkle in her eye. "I always do, Uncle Remus."

He smiled, and hugged her again. "I'll see you all soon, right?"

"Right," Dana replied, pulling Laura close to her side. "Tell Sirius hello for me."

"I will."

"And you'll remember . . .?" Olivia asked.

"I will," Remus said again, looking deeply into her eyes. "I'll see you all soon."

And, spinning on the spot, he was gone.