November 1

2 am

Snape. Snape? Severus Snape? Lily couldn't believe her eyes. There was a long silence as Severus just stood there and looked directly at Lily and the three remaining Marauders. Lily was the first to break it. "Sev! You came back!" she rushed forward to hug her former best friend.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said quietly. "All of you," he said, looking at even James Potter of all people.

"I'm sorry, too," said James Potter. Severus blinked. James Potter was holding out his hand. He wondered if it was a trick. Potter grinned. Cautiously, Severus extended his own hand and shook it firmly.

"So…James," he smiled. The word felt odd on his tongue.

"Severus," he nodded.

Sirius Black, though, wasn't going to take it that easily. "How do we know we can trust him?" he asked with suspicion, looking at Dumbledore.

"I assure you, Sirius, he has been working on our side for several months now. I completely trust him," said Dumbledore. Black relaxed slightly, but his eyebrows were still narrowed. Then, as if making up his mind, he closed his eyes, opened them again, and abruptly started forward.

"Oi!" said Sirius Black. 'Obnoxious git!' he thought. But then Black continued.

"My turn," he said. "I'm sorry, Snape," he said sincerely. And stuck out his hand, too. Taking it, Severus nearly gaped but managed to take control of his emotions at the last second.

"Oh, no!" said Remus Lupin. "Padfoot, you beat me to it!" And the werewolf, too, stuck out his hand. "You're really alright, Severus, you know?" he said. Severus nodded silently. This was a very, VERY big shock. Never in a million years had he thought…

The silence had returned.

"Er…" said one of the Prewett twins. "This is awkward."

"Yeah, touching reunions and all, but I thought we were supposed to discuss the attack on the Potters last night and future living arrangements?" growled Alastor Moody. Even though Severus would never admit it, he was intimidated by the scarred face, clawed foot and especially the crazy, electric blue, constantly whizzing eyeball. And he'd seen a lot as a (former, he reminded himself) Death Eater.

"For those of you who haven't heard the whole story of what happened a few hours ago, I shall retell it," said Dumbledore. "Around 10 pm yesterday, Voldemort approached the Potters' house. He knew the location, because Peter Pettigrew, who had recently been appointed as the Potters' Secret Keeper, day before yesterday, in fact, had secretly been working for Voldemort (at this several members in the room flinched) for a while now, and divulged their location to him." Sirius Black and Remus Lupin made angry growls in their throats, while James and Lily both just looked sad.

"However," he continued, "By use of a clever plan devised by James, Lily, Remus and Sirius (Black mock-bowed), Voldemort was held at the Potters' residence for about two and a half hours, allowing us to attempt to capture him. James, Lily, and Sirius came to Hogwarts to find me, and we all left to try to hold Voldemort. Sadly, in the duel that ensued, he was able to escape, at which point we decided to have this meeting in order to decide what to do next. Several members of the Order of the Phoenix (he inclined his head to Sirius, Remus, Frank and Alice) were able to ensure that messages reached the rest of the Order, while I was visited by Severus, with the information that Voldemort had evidently been lying low and had not returned to the headquarters of the Death Eaters." Instant chaos broke out.

"Death Eater?"

"Severus Snape?"

"I knew there was something dodgy about him!"

"Death Eater?"

"Do you think he's a spy?"

"Yeah, well, he might be spying on us! What do we know?"

"SILENCE!" roared Dumbledore. Everyone fell quiet at once.

"Yes, Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, he is not anymore, and I have great reason to believe that he has changed sides, and to trust him."

Severus took a deep breath. Of course this was happening, he'd expected it.

Sirius looked at him skeptically. "And what is that reason?"

'Don't you dare, Albus. DON'T DO THIS!' though Severus internally.

"I cannot tell you," said Dumbledore. Severus let out a breath.

"But-" started James.

"That is final."

He knew it would be hard; he knew that Potter and Black, at least, would be the last to trust him. It went both ways. He didn't blame them; he didn't trust them fully either. Had any of them really changed at all? That was silly to even think about. Of course they had, and he forced himself to remember that Potter and Black weren't bigheaded arrogant toerags anymore - at least it seemed that way.

"Now," said Dumbledore calmly. "To address the events that have ensued, we will be setting up three separate missions. The war has, as you all know, reached its very height. Therefore, I have decided that it's time we take a different approach. The group with the first mission will be in charge of re-establishing the Ministry from within. Spreading awareness throughout the Wizarding World, getting good lawyers and judges into place in the Wizengamot, that sort of thing. The second group will be in charge of rounding up and capturing Death Eaters, and making certain plans in order to capture Voldemort himself at a given point, when all the groups will merge together. The third group will meet me now in the room on the right. We've done enough spying, and we have enough information on the Death Eaters to take the right actions. In the meantime, we suggest all of you to put the Fidelius Charm on all of your houses, and perhaps those of your family as well - especially you, Frank and Alice. Yes, you, and I will discuss the circumstances for this separately after the meeting. Please pay attention to the list of names for the groups, and organize yourselves accordingly. Group 1 will include Arthur Weasley, Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Emmeline Vance and Dedalus Diggle. Group 2 will include Alastor Moody, Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Molly Weasley, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadowes, Rubeus Hagrid, Minerva McGonagall, Caradoc Dearborn and Aberforth Dumbledore. Group 3 will comprise of Lily and James Potter, Frank and Alice Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, myself and Severus Snape," he finished.

Group 1, led by Edgar Bones assembled in one of the corners of the room, and Group 2 gathered in the opposite corner, led by Alastor Moody. Meanwhile, Group 3 filed into the parlor off the right. As Dumbledore shut the door behind them and started setting up protective and silencing enchantments, the members of Group 3 all started looking at each other speculatively. What could be so confidential that they had to hide it from the rest of the Order? Snape was surprised when James Potter of all people looked at him quizzically, glancing around at everyone in the room. He smiled tentatively at Snape. Severus was shocked, but remembered in time to smile back.

Dumbledore swiftly turned back to them. "We are here," he said, "to talk about horcruxes."

A/N: The beginning's inspired by The Mysterious Ticking Noise, by the Potter Puppet Pals, which I was listening to when I wrote it. It's a fun song =D