The morning definitely came too quickly for me. I had ended up reading for another hour after I had finished talking with Remus. That book was just so interesting! I woke with it lying on my chest, still open to the chapter on the ghosts of Hogwarts. Unfortunately I have this awful internal clock that wakes me up consistently at 7 am. I knew I'd be the only one up, so I figured I might as well take my time getting ready. One of the elves must have come in at some point during the night, because I had a neatly folded pile of clothes waiting for me on the nightstand. I grabbed them and walked to the bathroom, finally realizing how gross I was from not showering yesterday.

Hogwarts never does anything half-way. The shower was huge. It was also a full tub and it was decorated with gold trimming. The curtain, of course, was a deep red and went all the way around. As soon as I turned it on, it was the perfect temperature. Just when I thought I couldn't love Hogwarts any more, it provided me with my dream bathroom. If I ever made it back, I would definitely be moving and redecorating. After I had finished, I reached for a towel and quickly dried myself off. I looked over at the pile of clothes, curious as to what they had brought me. It turned out to be just a simple pair of jeans and a red and gold long-sleeve shirt. There was also a black cape, which I guess was to be worn over the outfit. I would definitely have to ask Lily about that one. I threw on the jeans and shirt and turned to the mirror, only to realize that I didn't have a hair drier, straightener, or even basic makeup to wear. This was not going to be a good morning for me, considering the fact that my hair was notoriously wavy and sometimes looked more like a badly-done perm when left un-straightened.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. I pulled myself away from the dreadful image in the mirror long enough to answer it. Lily was on the other end, looking a little disheveled after just waking.

"Good morning, Lily!"

"Mhmmm, good morning." She was clearly still waking up. "I figured it would be you in here. Goodness knows that those boys won't wake up for another few hours unless I wake them. James sleeps like the dead. Did you sleep alright?"

"Yeah, I guess. I stayed up a little too late talking to Remus and reading."

"Why doesn't that surprise me? Remus and books usually go hand in hand. What did he have you read?"

I smiled. "Oh, I was already reading Hogwarts, A History before he came downstairs. It is probably the most interesting book I've ever read, and that's saying something. Too bad I wasn't able to find a spell book. That might help my current dilemma." I motioned to my hair and face. Lily looked confused, but then she realized I was talking about my hair and make-up… or lack thereof.

"Oh, I can help you with that. Come here." She grabbed my hand and brought me in front of the mirror. "Okay, what would you like done?"

"Well, I normally keep my hair straight, and I go pretty natural with my makeup. Just some basic foundation and eyeliner. You can do something different if you think it would look better. I'm not very good with this sort of thing."

She looked at me and smiled like her birthday had come early. I was the closest thing to a Barbie as she could get to. I closed my eyes as she moved her wand in a sort of circular fashion, muttering something I couldn't quite make out.

"Ah, that's better. You can look now!"

I opened my eyes and looked at the mirror, immediately shocked at how beautiful I looked. My hair was straight and had a shine to it that I could never have gotten if I had spent an hour working on it. My face was more evenly toned with a black eyeliner and mascara. I had a rosy eye shadow on and a darker red on my lips. It was all done perfectly.

"Thanks, Lily. I don't think I could ever get this to look this good no matter how long I tried." She smiled, but then something startled her and she looked to the door.

"Oh, bother. Harry's up. I'll be right back." With that, she walked out the door. I couldn't believe she just knew that. I hadn't heard anything. I guess it was just a "mom" thing. She reappeared a few minutes later toting the little boy. He was giggling and playing with her long hair.

"Ugh, he couldn't have waited ten more minutes? I was just about to take a shower. Now I'll have to wait until James gets his lazy butt out of bed."

"I can watch him while you get ready. It's really not a big deal." She smiled and handed little Harry over to me. He seemed a bit reluctant, but I flashed him a big smile and he just smiled back. This kid was just too easy to please.

"Thanks, Lauren. I appreciate it."

"No problem. I'm going to take him down to the common room. I'll see you when you're done." With that, I carried Harry down the stairs and sat on the couch, sitting the small boy next to me.

"Well, Harry, I can't begin to tell you how weird this is." I sat there, watching the small boy as he began to play with the tassels on one of the pillows. "You really are a cute kid. I can't believe the Dursley's were so mean to you. Who could resist that smile?" It was like he knew I was talking about him. He looked at me and started to giggle while crawling on my lap and tugging at my hair. "Well, little man, you don't have to worry. You'll never have to experience that as long as I have anything to say about it." With that, I picked him up and tossed him in the air a bit, causing him to laugh uncontrollably. We were so busy playing that we didn't realize when the others came downstairs.

"You really are a natural with that kid." I turned around after catching Harry for what seemed like the millionth time to see them all looking at us, smiling. It was James that had spoken. "Normally, Harry doesn't make friends so fast. Padfoot here had to basically bribe Harry for a month before he was completely comfortable around him." Sirius looked offended.

"That is most certainly untrue. Harry has loved me since the day he was put in my arms. That is godfather law. You can look it up!"

"I think we all know I'm Harry's favorite, Sirius." Remus smiled and straightened a little.

"Yeah right, Moony. I'm the cool one, you're the strict one. No child ever chooses the strict one over the cool one."

Lily just rolled her eyes. I figured this happened a lot and that I should try to end it before it turns into some silly contest between the two.

"I think we know that I'm the new favorite now. Anyway, aren't we late for breakfast?" That got them moving, thankfully. Nothing gets between men and food. I continued to hold Harry as we made our way to the Great Hall. I tried my best to remember which way I was supposed to be going, but I gave up after we hit the staircases. Everyone knows they like to change, so memorizing which ones to take probably wasn't the greatest plan.

Finally, we made it to our destination. We stood in front of a large set of wooden doors, intricately decorated with pictures and symbols that I didn't understand. James opened one side while Remus held the other. I walked in and my breath immediately caught in my throat. This was the Great Hall, enchanted ceiling and all. There were still four sets of tables, but there were no decorations to show which row belonged to what house. I wondered where we were going to sit as we walked down the center aisle. I looked up and saw Dumbledore sitting at the teacher's table with a few others. They were speaking about something pretty seriously, but they immediately fell silent as we approached and sat. I handed off Harry back to Lily and sat in-between Remus and Sirius. I tried to recognize who was at the table, but no one looked familiar. Instead, I decided to feed my growling stomach. I began to fill my plate with French toast and eggs. I wasn't disappointed either. The food was excellent. No wonder the students never complained. If only we had house elves at my old college. I was then hit with a sudden thought.

"Remus, it's the end of October. Why aren't there any students here?"

Remus looked at the others solemnly before responding. "With the war going on, most of the families are in hiding. Some students and their families were killed over the summer and they decided to close down for the year. This way, we can focus all our attention towards fighting Voldemort."

I was immediately sorry I had brought it up. The little energy that was present at the table vanished, and we finished eating in silence. I figured that the deaths had been recent and people they had all known. That would explain the pained looks on their faces when Remus shared the story. As soon as we were done, Dumbledore stood.

"I believe we should head to my office. The rest of the Order should be arriving soon and once we are all accounted for, we can begin our meeting."

A/N: Wow, talk about an awful author. I'm so sorry these chapters are so delayed. My life has just been turned upside down for so stinking long and I'm only just now getting them updated. Don't worry, I've been writing like a madwoman, so it should be updated regularly from now on. I'll be posting 2 chapters today, just to say I'm sorry! Thanks for sticking with me. What say we finish this out, huh?