Chapter 25

A/N So Bailey and I looked at what we have left and I regret to inform you that the end is near. Not like HA LAST CHAPTER near but we wont have (most likely) more than seven more chapters. But fear not, those chapters will be amazing. We've been waiting to write them for so long you have no idea. (Also, yes I know it's a little bit later than normal but I was incredibly sick and mother nature decided to make it freezing again.)

delenda est c: Always a pleasure.

Christine Dalenn: Actually I didn't fail spanish so no tears are necessary. I also didn't fail econ which made me laugh like crazy. But think about it. Never again will we ever have to go to econ. Never again will we have to set foot in that dreaded class. Now that is tear worthy.

JaneDoh0: You liked reading it, we liked writing it. Team work win.

Bienvenue a Bikini Bottom: Haha I was really happy when Bailey didn't edit that out. Snape is just so sassy, I love it.

Amar 2: Stop tempting me or I might give in and that would be bad.

InsaneCrazyWitch: Thanks for the follow/favorite!

Later that night, Severus found himself standing in front of the Potter's house with Albus. He knew he should be upset about being asked to come because of everything else going on regarding him and the Order, but he was excited to see Lily. Albus knocked on the door and a few moments later, James answered.

"Come in, it's cold," He greeted them, and invited Severus and Albus to follow him into his home, shutting the door behind them, "You two are the last to arrive. Sirius, Lupin, and Frank are in the living room and Alice and Lily are tending to Harry and Neville upstairs." James continued to talk as he made his way, Severus assumed, to where the Order was waiting. Albus followed behind him but Severus took his time removing his cloak. He could hear hushed tones of concealed conversations coming from the room where Albus and James just disappeared to and he had a feeling they were probably about him. He couldn't gauge what the entire Order thought of him after his battle with James against Bellatrix so he wasn't sure what they were talking about regarding him, but he still didn't like it.

Eventually, after hanging up his cloak, he made his way into the room he saw Albus and James enter a few moments previously. Inside was the dining room of the home, where the select members of the Order were sitting and quietly talking around the table. They all looked up when he entered and stopped their conversations. The situation was a bit tense, no one knew what to say.

"So," Lupin, sitting closest to where Severus, began, "Shall we begin?"

"Yes, of course." James responded, "Severus, please, sit." Severus did. There was another brief moment of silence before anyone began speaking.

"I assume you know why we invited you here today," James said it Severus and he leaned back in his chair.

"Invited gives me the impression that I am wanted here," he said with a brief smirk. "But, yes, I know why I am here."

"We need you to tell us all you can about the Death Eaters," Sirius said, butting into the tense conversation. "We need to know how they think, how they fight, who is most important, everything." All heads turned to look at Severus expectantly and he sighed.

"Well, I-" he started but he was cut off by the sound of little footsteps running into the room.

"Neville, Harry, you can't play in there!" Severus heard and when he turned he saw Lily come into the room after the two toddlers. Neither of them seemed to have heard Lily or simply didn't care and they continued to run into the meeting. Neville ran behind his dad but Harry ran to the center of the room then collapsed in a fit of giggles.

"Sorry everyone, they are just so fast and neither Alice or I can keep up with them," Lily explained, panting her way over to Harry. James met her halfway and handed their son over to her.

"Just give it a few more years and we will be doing this all over again," he said and Severus couldn't miss the twinkle in his eye. He couldn't watch their happy moment any more so he concentrated on the carpet under his feet and fought to keep a straight face.

"At least we will be prepared this time," she said and she bounced Harry into a more comfortable position on her hip. As she did so, Alice walked into the room and went to grab Neville who tried to hold onto his dad.

"Go with your mom, Neville. We can play when we get home," Frank said softly and Neville made a pouting noise.

"Sorry, he's just tired," Alice explained and she picked up her son gently.

"We should be done in an hour," Frank replied with a nod.

"Well, we will leave you guys to your work," Lily said and the two women left the room. Severus looked up again and saw that he wasn't the only one tense in the room.

"So, you were saying?" Lupin said slowly and Severus shook his head to clear his thoughts. For the next forty five minutes Severus told him everything he could about his old master and group.

"Now remember, any of the Death Eaters won't mind killing anyone, but they will also do a lot to save their own skin. If they feel their lives in danger in any way, they won't hesitate to use horrible spells against us."
"But if we use those same spells against them," Lupin started.

"We become more horrible than the spells themselves. But don't let that stop you from going easy on them. With that being said though, if the Death Eater isn't extremely high up on the kill list, it would be wise just to imprison them so we can use them for information."

"Is that all?" Sirius asked, looking at Albus who had been taking brief notes.

"No. Don't fight them alone because as much as I have faith in you, I know most of them are stronger." Before he could say another word, he felt a searing pain shoot through his Dark Mark and he grabbed his forearm in pain.

"What is it?" Lupin asked, alarmed by Severus' sudden outburst.
"I should have known they would be planning already," Severus whispered to himself and he clenched his fist in pain, trying not to cry out.

"Is that your Dark Mark?" Albus asked and Severus gritted his teeth and nodded. Suddenly the pain vanished but Severus quickly rolled up his sleeve. The Dark Mark gleamed black in the light from the living room. The temperature in the room seemed to drop as everyone looked at the mark they all feared.

"So this is it," Lupin said softly and nobody responded for a long time.