Recap: The last Quidditch Match, Gryffindor won. Conversation with Hagrid.

Chapter 49: The Order of the Phoenix

"I don't think we could have picked a better day to be our second to last." Marlene said as we all sat down by our favorite tree near the lake. There was a murmur of agreement as the statement settled in our minds. She was right. We made it.

"I can't believe it. We survived." I said, voicing my thoughts. I sat between James' legs, and he pulled me into his chest, his back against the tree. Marlene and Alex were in a similar position and Remus, Sirius, and Peter were all sprawled out on the grass.

"The year passed so quickly, but I felt like it was painfully slow, too." James added as he laced his fingers through mine.

"Isn't every year like that?" Sirius asked. I found myself nodding in agreement.

"No, it was just this year." James said, frowning.

"It's because we didn't want to go home." I said quietly, directing that statement towards Sirius. I figured this out myself a few weeks ago. "And this year…" I didn't need to finish my statement; comprehension dawned on everyone's faces.

"Where is home?" James said so quietly that I knew it was only meant for me. I looked up at him and our eyes met. I stroked his cheek with my free hand.

"I don't know." I murmured. His eyes looked so pained, darkened by the terrors of the past year. I put my arms around his torso and pressed my cheek to his chest. His grip around me tightened, almost painfully, and I knew he was struggling to hold back tears.

"You know, it was about two years ago, in this very area, where I feel like everything was starting to change." Sirius chirped in a light tone. I was grateful for his excellent timing. "I like to call it the beginning of the end."

"The end of what?" Remus asked, raising his head slightly to face Sirius.

"The end of Prongs' single life." Sirius grinned. James' chest vibrated as he let out an appreciative chuckle.

"Is there honestly a Giant Squid in there?" Peter asked. Immediately, everyone's heads turned to me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

"I figured you were well acquainted." Sirius shrugged, keeping a straight face. "Heard you two have a bit of -um- history." He winked. I rolled my eyes.

"No, I do not have any history with anyone…or anything…" I added. "And I don't know if the Squid actually exists." I told Peter.

"Oh, wait, but you must've liked other people before James." Sirius said, looking at me gleefully. He had that mischievous glint in his eyes that always told me to run in the opposite direction as fast as I could. He, Remus, and Peter exchanged glances. They sat up at the exact same time, all of them with the same glint in their eyes. They were all thinking the same thing: Let's embarrass Lily.

"So, do tell us, Lily, who did you like before James?" Remus asked, feigning innocent as he looked at me. I looked to Marlene for help, and she only gave me a grin identical to theirs. I sighed.

"Fine." I muttered angrily.

"First year?" Sirius asked. There was a few that year.

"I only remember two legitimate crushes…and then there's…" I trailed off, only just remembering. How could I have forgotten? I thought James was actually cute. I'd been kind of excited that he was sitting in the same compartment I was in until he opened his mouth and started talking to Snape. I could tell he was a jerk from then. I blushed at the thought.

"Who is it Lily?" Peter asked, grinning widely.

"Okay, well there were these two fifth years, I didn't even know their names, but they were twins, and I thought they were cute, and at different times, obviously, I developed a crush on both of them." I admitted.

"Fifth year, eh?" Sirius asked cheekily.

"She likes the older ones." Remus grinned.

"Funny, Prongs, you're two months younger than her." Peter added, and all three started laughed.

"Are there any more?" Marlene asked, grinning. The three immediately stopped laughing and eagerly stared at me. I sighed.

"Alright, well, I-I…" I sighed. "I thought James was cute." I growled. Now, I had all of them laughing, including Alex and James.

"You thought I was cute?" James asked happily.

"Before you started insulting Snape." I corrected.

"Nice job mate, you had to insult Snape." Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, who knows, you might've been together since first year." Remus added. I snorted. He was still a prat then. James shrugged.

"I'm fine with the way things worked out." He said, grinning at me. I smiled back and kissed his cheek.

"Second year?" Peter asked eagerly.

"I think it was Benjy Fenwick." I admitted.

"Entire year?" Marlene asked, raising her eyebrow. I nodded.

"We were friends, but we started drifting apart by the end of the year." I shrugged. He wasn't bad, it was the next few years I was dreading.

"He's not too bad. Trustworthy, and pretty funny, too." Remus said with a shrug. "What about third year?" He asked. He would be the one to ask. I turned red.

"It was you." I said, trying to muffle my voice by burying it in James' chest.

"It was me?" Remus asked, and by his voice, I could tell he was smirking. I nodded. Everyone started laughing besides me and James. My face turned redder with the noise. Once they stopped, I turned to face them again and they were all grinning, with the exception of James, who looked slightly confused, but slightly disturbed, too.

"Why?" He asked. I shrugged.

"I started talking to him because I liked him, and then as I got to know him better, I realized I didn't really like him anymore…well like that." I explained. James laughed.

"Who's after that?" James asked, now more amused than anything.

"Stewart Rosen, fourth year." I replied.

"Even after the ugly boils?" James groaned. I nodded.

"He still talked to me after that. Didn't run in the opposite direction like I thought he would." I shrugged. "Not bad for a Ravenclaw."

"Whenever James was nearby, he did." Peter corrected. I glared.

"Wait, didn't he ask you our in third year?" Alex asked. I nodded. Before I could ask how he knew, he explained, "No one's forgotten that incident." He grinned.

"Now, fifth year. Was there anyone before me?" James asked. This one was the worst. I gulped guiltily.

"Sirius." I growled.

"Yeah?" Sirius asked.

"No. Sirius." I stressed. Why were they putting me through this?

"Wait, are you telling us you liked…him?" James asked, pointing to Sirius. I hid my face in James' chest once more.

"I think we can take that as a yes." Remus grinned. Sirius started laughing louder and happier than I'd heard him in a long time, and I was momentarily happy for him, before James started talking.

"Him? Of all people!" James said, stroking my hair. "You had bad taste. Until I came along, at least." He gave me a cheeky grin. "But why him? Now I'm curious."

"He changed, and I could tell, everyone could. He was becoming less…well, he was becoming nicer I guess. He wasn't walking around like he was superior to everyone. I don't know, maybe it was my sub-conscious mind wishing it was you becoming like that, and it was kind of indirectly you, even though I was telling myself it was him. I think I was just in denial and I don't think I honestly did like him. I used him as a disguise for you." I explained.

"Wait, didn't Mary start going out with him?" Marlene asked.

"I think I stopped liking him when he, the real Sirius, hit on Mary once, and I suppose I realized what I was doing…and made some sort of a switch, I guess." Yeah, that sounded about right. Why was I so confused two years ago?

"A good switch." James grinned. I rolled my eyes

"From that moment on, he was all hers and I think I told her I was 'happy with not liking anyone' but I obviously did." I shrugged, shaking my head at my denial. "And, if you don't remember, Sirius, you told her that her legs looked good in our uniform skirt."

"They do." Sirius said, nodding along and smiling funnily. I reached over and hit him.

"No fantasizing here!" I laughed.

"Save it for your bed." James added, snickering.

"We all know you do." Peter grinned.

"I don't need to know." I cut in. Sirius opened his mouth again when I whacked him again. He smiled sheepishly at me, and I felt James freeze. I looked up at him questioningly.

"I think we've stalled enough." James said, glancing upwards. The sky was getting orange. By the look in everyone's eyes, I knew we were all on the same page.

"Let's go." I said. I was about to get up when James hugged me close to him and put his head on my shoulder. He let go of me, but put his hands in my hair and kissed me. He pulled away and stared at me so intensely that I blushed.

"Oi! Mr. No-Stalling! Come on!" Sirius barked. James reluctantly withdrew his hands and we stood up. We followed everyone else inside and I paid special attention to the castle, trying to commit every detail to memory. But with a castle like Hogwarts, it was a useless attempt. There was too much to see and marvel at in so little time. We reached Dumbledore's gargoyle far too soon.

"Lemon Drops." James and I said at the same time. We reached for each other's hands. His hand was a bit sweaty, and I knew mine was probably the same. We stepped on the stairs that automatically took us up. We stood in front of Dumbledore's door for a second before Remus raised his fist and knocked twice.

"Come in." Dumbledore said, and my heart sped up as the door opened. There were seven chairs in front of his desk. Was he expecting us? Or did he just… "Yes, I was expecting all of you." It took us a second to get over the shock, but when we did, James, Sirius, Remus, and I sat in the front row and Alex, Marlene, and Peter sat in the back. "I know why you're all here, but let's pretend I don't." Dumbledore said. No one spoke up, so they were probably still trying to understand what he meant.

"Professor," I started. "We came here today because James' parents, in the letter they left him, talked about an organization you formed, called the Order of the Phoenix." I paused. This was going a lot smoother than I thought it would, probably because he was expecting us to come. It made me feel more confident for some reason. "And we all want to join." He nodded, as though his suspicions were confirmed. "We all want to fight, we all want to do whatever we can to protect others. We don't want to wait until three years of Auror training before we can do anything real. We waited long enough. We're all pretty restless, and just want to do something as soon as we can." I said.

"I see. Anything else?" He asked, leaning forward, slowly examining all of us. He seemed satisfied with whatever he saw or was looking for. "Very well then. I should assure you that you can leave any time you want."

"For us to be able to leave…does that mean we're in?" Sirius asked, excitement apparent in his voice. Dumbledore smiled at him and nodded. This went far smoother than expected. I squeezed James' hand and grinned at everyone. We all had identical expression of happiness, but I could tell we were all apprehensive as well.

"Thank you, professor." I grinned. He shook his head.

"On the contrary, Miss Evans. The seven of you are incredibly brave, and quite admirable, for volunteering for such a dangerous task. Your willingness to help and fight is something most people don't have. We're going to be lucky to have seven wonderful additions to the Order. I know that you know what dangers you will be facing out there, because you've all faced such dangers in the security of this castle, of course on a smaller scale." Dumbledore said, looking at me specifically.

I did have an odd tendency to attract the Slytherins. We always seemed to find them where ever we went. But of course, so did James. Then again, he hadn't been the one knocked out for days because of a powerful Sectumsempra.

"When's the first meeting?" Sirius asked Dumbledore.

"It'll be July 15th, Frank and Alice Longbottom's house." He replied. I should've guessed Alice and Frank would be involved. "We'll have Alastor Moody train you all a little before you go out."

"Alastor Moody?" James asked excitedly, practically jumping out of his chair. "The Deputy Head Auror?" He was leaning forward with every word.

"Don't wet yourself, mate." Sirius murmured to him with a grin on his face. James ignored him and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Yes, James, Alastor Moody, Deputy Head Auror. I'm sure he'll like all of you. You're the first to come forth and ask to join, but I must confess, if you hadn't come to me today, I was planning on asking all of you tomorrow." Dumbledore said.

"All of us?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Mr. McKinnon, I am quite aware you two exist." Dumbledore said, smiling slightly at them. I turned around slightly and caught their cheeks turning pink. "Now, we'll have plenty of time to chat in the coming months." We took that as an invitation to leave, and stood up. "My, it feels like it was only yesterday when you all entered the castle." He said. "You were all so mischievous, and before you started classes, you were in the negatives, before Miss Evans brought up your points by answering questions in class. And now, you've won the House Cup in addition to your Quidditch Cup. You're so ahead that there's no way any of the other houses can catch up. That's why I'm awarding it tonight." He said, smiling at us proudly. I knew Sirius was taking it as a personal challenge. I glared at him, and Remus, James, and Peter did, too. Dumbledore laughed. "Your friends know you too well."

"Fine, I won't do anything." Sirius grumbled.

"See you all at the feast. I trust you'll be saving your prank for tomorrow?" He addressed this question to the Marauders. They all grinned and nodded.

"Bye, professor." I said and we left his office.

"That went smoother than expected." Marlene said happily.

"It's Dumbledore. I figured he'd have some idea." Remus shrugged. It didn't matter now, we were all officially in. We were going to fight.

"Back to the Common Room?" Sirius asked.

"Sure." I said, and we made a turn to go there. We were about to make a second turn when I heard something behind a closed door. It sounded like hushed whispers. I stopped, causing James to stop, too. I let go of his hand and walked towards the door and cautiously pressed my ear against it. James opened his mouth to say something, but I quieted him with a finger on my lips. I couldn't catch much, or who was talking. All I heard was "few", "letter", "join", "honor", and "protection." Suddenly, it all went quiet, and I felt a cold chill run through my body. I brought my wand out and muttered the first spell that came to mind: Protego. Just as I did, I saw the door burst open in an explosion. That would have painfully thrown me into the stone wall behind me, if I hadn't put the shield charm up.

"Lily!" I heard James cry.

"I'm fine." I called back through the dust, coughing slightly. "Shield Charm." I explained. The dust started clearing, and I entered the room, but there was no one there. I frowned and looked around for any clue that would indicate who was here.

"Slytherins, no doubt about that, who else would blast open the door?" Sirius muttered darkly. Suddenly, everything pieced together in my mind, and I knew what they were talking about. "Head dorm. Hurry. I think I figured something out." I called as I practically ran out of the room. I weaved through the students and breathless, I told our portrait the password. The other six quickly followed.

"You're fast." Remus said, appearing behind me, also breathless. I sat down on my favorite couch opposite the fire. James sat down on one side of me, and Sirius on the other. Remus and Peter settled down on the ground in front of us, and Alex and Marlene sat in the other chair.

"What'd you hear?" Marlene asked.

"I could only catch a few words, but I heard 'few', 'join', 'letters', 'protection', and honor." I said. I only got blank stares. "And they're Slytherins…."I prompted, hoping that a light would go off. Nothing. I sighed, kind of crestfallen.

"Sorry?" Peter apologized, exchanging an unsure glance with Remus.

"Don't you get it? It's a letter to join the Death Eaters! Whoever was in that room got invitations to join them! It's supposed to be an honor, and they get protection once they get out of here!" I said excitedly. They all took a moment to let it sink in. "And they probably could tell someone was listening through the door, that's why they blasted it open! And then took advantage of the dust to run off. And it's not safe to talk about it in the Common Room, so they chose an abandoned classroom." I explained.

"That actually makes sense." Remus said.

"There are Hogwarts students, junior Death Eaters, who aren't exactly 'junior' anymore." Marlene said fearfully. "That's awful." She shook her head.

"But once you get a letter to join, it'd be difficult to refuse, won't it?" Sirius said, frowning.

"Why?" Alex asked.

"He'd kill you, wouldn't he?" Peter said, and Sirius nodded in affirmation.

"I kinda feel bad for them. I said softly. It's like the have no choice, you know? Not all of them are bad. I mean, they're Slytherins. Most of them are too scared of death to do the right thing." I shrugged, thinking of Snape. James seemed to know where my thoughts were and rubbed my arm comfortingly.

"That stupid and disgusting." Sirius spat. I knew he was thinking of Regulus, who, in a few years, would be going there, too.

"Some of them are like that." I said sadly.

A/N: So, this is the second to last chapter. Difficult to write. :( Next week is going to be the last chapter. I committed myself to this story for the last year, and I'm really proud of how it turned out.

I'll save the thank-you's for next chapter, but I can't believe how close we are to 400.

Pottermore's been on my mind for days, and I'm so excited! I can't wait to see which house I'd really be sorted in! I've had different results: Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Gryffindor. What house do you think you'll be in?

Until next week,

Love,
SAM :)