Chapter One
Constant Vigilance
The sun was just beginning to set as a figure strode quickly down the London street. It was almost empty save for the occasional passing car or muggles out and about for an evening stroll. The young man, dressed as indiscriminately as he could in jeans and a blue woolen vest over a plain, and very faded, white shirt, kept referring to a piece of paper, clutched tightly in his hands and glancing at the numbers on each door as he swiftly walked by.
Unable to Apparate to a location he was unfamiliar with, let alone during daylight hours in a muggle neighborhood, he had instead walked, using a locator spell to find his way to the correct street, from the Leaky Cauldron.
Twenty-six….twenty-eight. He stopped at the black wrought iron gate bearing the number twenty-eight in golden digits on the stone beside the mailbox. Nerves ran through the young wizard, but they did nothing to lessen the determination he had found. Still, though he was right on time at five minutes before eight, he couldn't bring himself to go in.
Just as Remus glanced around, hoping his friends would arrive conveniently at the same time, a white Ford Escort pulled up at the pavement, parking just in front of the house. He grinned when he saw Sirius waving with a wild grin from the back window. The two doors opened and James stepped onto the concrete, struggled with the front seat for a minute before he figured out how to move it forward to let Sirius out and pinched his fingers in the door when it shut.
"And that is why I will not let you drive, James." Lily tutted, locking her family's car before walking around and patting James on the shoulder.
"What about me? Would you teach me?" Sirius grinned, earning a good-natured glare from the Muggle-born witch.
"Absolutely not. Unless you get your own car."
"Nah, I have my eyes on…"
"-A motorcycle first." Remus and James finished in unison, exchanging a knowing look.
"Lily, you got one too?" Remus asked, holding up his invitation to the meeting and Lily nodded as she tucked the car keys into her jacket pocket.
"I did." She confirmed, and squealed loudly just as a huge purple bus screamed to a halt not a metre away from Sirius as he leapt out of it's path. There was a surreal moment, when right between Remus and the bus, an elderly muggle couple walked straight through the vehicle, sparing only a cursory glance and a smile at the gathering of youths. Remus could not help but laugh out loud at how closely the muggle and wizarding world coincided and overlapped.
The old lady turned and stared at him and he hastily stopped his laughter and waved to them with a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
"Twenty-eight Hamilton Terrace." The conductor of the Knight Bus, a portly gentleman in a vibrant purple suit stepped onto the steps and a moment later Peter jumped from the bottom step onto the pavement with a hurried thanks to the conductor and driver.
"Oh good, you're all here." Relief was evident in Peter's voice as he looked around at his friends with a sheepish grin. "I-I would be too nervous to go in alone."
"Course you would." Sirius chuckled, and led the way up the porch steps to the front door. Remus followed the others. As he stepped off the top step, a light tremor ran through his body. It was not unlike the sensation of stepping through a ghost, albeit without the chilling cold. They'd stepped into an enchantment, there was no mistaking that.
Sirius rang the bell and the five young wizards and a witch stood anxiously on the doorstep of their future. There was nothing for several moments, then out of the silence the door swung open.
A broad shouldered, sturdily built man answered the door. He had a thick mop of greying hair and in person, his face was so scarred and rough that it could almost have passed for a wooden replica as he stood there frowning at them. But the feature that caught everyone's attention was the whizzing blue eye that spun wildly in its socket a few times before fixing itself on each of them individually.
"Bloody hell, Mad-Eye Moody in the flesh." Sirius, grinning like a man possessed, appeared starstruck for the first time in his life as he stared at the Auror who was essentially a celebrity amongst the wizarding world.
"You were expecting me to be made of paper?" His voice was deep and gruff, almost low enough to be a growl as he sharply jerked his chin inside. "No one followed you did they?"
"No, sir."
Remus caught sight of James' hand twitching at his side and he had to fight hard to resist the urge to smile as he knew Prongs had almost saluted.
"Get inside." The Auror growled, waving them in one after the other. "And next time come one at a time, it's not as suspicious."
Remus slipped between Sirius and Peter, second in line as they stepped through the narrow entrance half single file and followed the hum of chatter. He heard the clicking of several locks when the door closed behind them and Moody's heavy footsteps lumber after them.
A few framed and moving photographs lined the walls. One a wedding picture, the bride and groom waving at him as he passed. In the next, a wriggling baby, screaming silently in its cradle. The third picture, nearest to the corner as they rounded it, was a young boy, five or six at the most grinning and running around the backyard with his father, the groom from the first picture, in pursuit.
They stepped into a kitchen and dining room lined with small brown and white tiles that separated the room from the carpeted hallway they'd just walked down. A large dining table filled half the space, and around it, sat and stood a dozen other witches and wizards whose conversation died down as the newcomers entered the room. Smiling over at them with his familiar twinkling blue eyes, stood Dumbledore in periwinkle robes at the head of the table.
"Ah, right on time. Ladies and gentleman, our newest volunteers. Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans and James Potter."
"Fresh outta Hogwarts by the look of 'em." The wizard that first rose to greet them was the man whose house they currently stood in. He had long mousy brown hair that fell to his shoulders in light waves and three day old stubble. He held out his hand to shake each of theirs in turn, and then waved them further into the room. "Caradoc Dearborn, you're all very welcome."
"You best be able to hold your own in a duel if you intend to become a part of the Order." Moody growled, making Lily jump and whirl around to face him where he stood sentry directly behind her in the doorway.
"I can personally assure you of that, Alastor." Dumbledore confidently vouched for them, "These are all very capable young magicians, in fact I believe that James and Sirius here have just been accepted into the Auror Training Program, am I correct?"
"Sure have." The two brothers in all but blood replied in unison with equally proud expressions which quickly turned amused as they looked at each other in surprise.
"However," Dumbledore continued and his face grew graver as he directly addressed them, "Alastor is right in that what you have expressed such admirable interest in joining, is far from merely having noble intentions."
"We understand that." Remus answered right away, a sentiment echoed in turn by each of his friends. "We know what might be involved."
"Should we tell 'em what 'appened to Benjy last month?" A short wizard with raggedy ginger hair spoke up in a thick Cockney accent from where he leaned on the kitchen bench. Even before the man had opened his mouth Remus had crinkled his nose at the stench of tobacco and alcohol that filled the air before anyone else seemed to notice. He felt Lily's eyes on him when he reacted, and then a few moments later Peter subtly stifled a cough.
"No need, I'm right here, Mundungus. Benjy Fenwick, pleasure ta have you here." A short wizard, hardly taller than Professor Flitwick shouldered his way out into the open and the Cockney fellow, presumably Mundungus performed a mildly comical double take.
"Oh...didn't see ya there…"
With a well placed jab to the ribs, Mundungus doubled over groaning as the wizard removed his pointed hat. They all winced in unison. Where the top of Fenwick's head should have been was an enormous skin had healed over, likely with the help of essence of dittany and left behind a crater that would never be noticed under a hat.
"Not to worry, not to worry, young blood." Benjy quickly replaced his purple hat, "I was lucky to get out alive, and without too much permanent damage."
Introductions were made quickly, so many names were thrown at him that Remus struggled to remember each witch and wizard that shook his hand and welcomed him to the table. Among them was Edgar Bones, a tall wizard with auburn hair greying on the sides who was high up in the Department for Magical Games and Sports; Dorcas Meadowes, a dark skinned witch with a no-nonsense face that reminded Remus of McGonagall; Dedalus Diggle, a comical little man from Kent whose shorter stature was compensated for by the absurdly large top hat he wore.
Last of them, Sturgis Podmore, a young man in his early twenties with straw coloured hair pushed his way to the front and shook all their hands heartily. Only three years their senior, he'd been Gryffindor's new prefect and Captain of the Quidditch team when the Marauders had been in their second year at school.
"Blimey, been a few years now! Great to have you all here, Gryffindors through and through, 'eh?"
"Sturgis! It's good to see a familiar face…" James grinned, clapping the older wizard on the shoulder.
"Hey, I will vouch for each one of these folks too." Sturgis grinned around at the rest of the Order, "Especially the best bloody Chaser Gryffindor ever had."
Remus could not help smirking a little when Peter rolled his eyes behind their backs.
"Well then, now we are all acquainted…" Dumbledore began after the five had introduced themselves,
"Hold on." Dorcas interrupted and stepped forward until she stood toe to toe with an unflinching Sirius. "Sirius Black? We're just going to let one of that rotten lot in? They might not be officially Death Eaters but they're pretty bloody close."
"Yes." The tension was clear in Sirius' voice as he squarely faced the witch. "They are. I'm the first person who'll agree with that. I always have been."
"If I see no reason to doubt this young man's motives, then nor should you, Dorcas." The half-moon spectacles slid down his long nose as Dumbledore spoke but the orange-clad witch did not move.
"And don't forget that Andromeda is nothing like her sisters. We know for certain that she is not one of them or she wouldn't have married a muggle-born." Emmeline Vance, a former Beater for the Holyhead Harpies, added.
"Still...doesn't Moody always say constan-"
"Constant vigilance, Meadowes, not constant judgement." The senior Auror growled, his one real eye glaring until the witch huffed and backed down. "And we'll see how they go before we'll let them right in, isn't that right, Dumbledore?"
"Quite." The Grand Sorcerer nodded slowly. "I have confidence they shall prove themselves every bit as capable and sincere as the rest of you have. Now perhaps we should return to the matter at hand?" He waited until the conversation had died down and Dorcas had returned to her seat. "We are vastly outnumbered in our cause, and that is why we must stay ahead of where Voldemort and his followers expect us to be. It is vital, for the sake of innocent lives, that we better anticipate their movements. I have it on good authority that the Spiny Serpent in Knockturn Alley is being used as a meeting place."
"Tha's right." Mundungus Fletcher interjected, pulling a flask from his inside jacket pocket and taking a sip. "Seen a 'eap of 'em go in there in masks. Recognised a couple of 'em, Lestrange and his wife, Malfoy at least once, I'd know that mop'a blonde anywhere."
"We have yet to gain entry, and Mundungus cannot be stationed outside much longer for his own safety. He's too easily recognised."
"Too bleeding right, barely got away wiv me life last time."
"I haven't done the Knockturn Alley shift in some time…" Dedalus volunteered only for Sturgis to scoff loudly at him.
"Yeah, because no one recognises your hat…"
"I wouldn't wear it undercover, you dolt."
"I'll do it."
All eyes in the room turned to Sirius when he spoke up, and Remus' eyebrows disappeared into his hair that was getting far too long. Even more surprising however was Peter, who up until that point had been chewing on his nails nervously.
"I'll go too…"
"Your enthusiasm is admirable…" Dumbledore began, smiling kindly at the young men who so boldly volunteered. "But until you have a little more experience outside Hogwarts, I think it best-"
"They have a point, Dumbledore." Moody interrupted, his eyes darting critically between Sirius and Peter. "No one's gonna suspect they're a part of the Order already."
"No one will suspect anything because we won't be seen at all. I can promise you that." Sirius, without a trace of doubt in his mind soon added, "And I'll bet one of us could get inside too."
"Unless you have an invisibility cloak, I doubt they're about to let two kids just wander into their pub."
Remus and James exchanged the briefest of glances across the table.
"Look...you want me to prove myself?" Sirius glared at Dorcas and then elbowed Peter in the ribs and turned back to Dumbledore. "Let us try. You won't be sorry."
"I say we let 'em." Moody nodded his assent. His magical eye had remained trained on the two boys since Sirius had first spoken up and for a moment Remus wondered if somehow he could tell what they were keeping secret. Of course Sirius was right to be sure they wouldn't be seen. A mangy dog and a rat were hardly going to be out of place in Knockturn Alley.
After a long minute of consideration, the Founder of the Order of the Phoenix folded his left hand carefully over his right and dipped his head. "Very well...Sirius and Peter will go. James, perhaps you would be interested in joining Emmeline and Sturgis in their next air patrol, your skill with a broom is indeed undeniable."
"Can never have too many great flyers on our side." Emmeline smiled warmly.
James could not have looked more pleased. Lily squeezed his hand fondly and, presumably from force of habit raised her hand slowly. There were a few chuckles through the room as she remembered where she was and cleared her throat.
"Sorry. I just wondered, how many of their identities are known if they wear masks and hoods?"
"Publicly known? Few, only the particularly brazen ones are common knowledge and even then...the Ministry struggles for concrete proof to send them to Azkaban. Like Bellatrix Lestrange, we know that cackle anywhere but that won't put her away." Caradoc replied, his brow furrowing as he exchanged a glance with his fellow Auror. "That's where we come in."
"We have a list of those we know and those we suspect but can't necessarily prove without rolling up their sleeves and checking." Dorcas added "...Suffice to say we are grossly outnumbered."
"Don't scare them, Dorcas…" Dedalus chided, offering a sympathetic look to Lily.
"They need to know the numbers, Diggle. It's just facts."
"I'm not scared." Lily chimed in, her face as determined and stubbornly steadfast as it had ever been.
"Outnumbered or not, we have skill and secrecy on our side. Both of those things are more important than sheer numbers. I've seen Moody come out the victor against eight others at once in a duel." There was an air of awe and respect in Sturgis' voice that was echoed by a low whistle from Sirius.
Moody just grunted and tapped his nose, there was a noticeable chunk missing. "True."
"Voldemort's followers seem to have employed a 'one at a time' strategy, picking at the ones they know of bit by bit." Dumbledore explained, "I'm afraid Marlene McKinnon is still in recovery from the torture inflicted on her last week by means of the Cruciatus Curse. Edgar nobly exposed his own identity in the process of rescuing her. As such, unless absolutely necessary for a particular task, the Order does not work alone."
"I have one more thing to ask 'em." Moody leaned over the table, his palms flat on its surface as he looked each of them in the eye once more. "Are you willing to risk your life to stop this madman?"
One by one, Moody fixed both eyes on them until they assented unwaveringly. Peter alone did not speak but nodded anxiously and that seemed to satisfy the Auror enough because he leaned back with a grunt.
"Very well...you'll all be informed of the time and place of our next meeting. As always...eyes and ears open." Chairs and stools scraped against the floor as wizards and witches began to stand and disperse.
Remus rose from his seat, his heart beating twice as fast with the realisation of what they had all just gotten involved in. Still, danger and risk aside, there was no doubt at all in his mind that it was the right thing to do.
Just as he took a step towards the doorway, a hand on his shoulder spun him around.
"A word, Lupin." Mad-Eye said gruffly and before Remus could do more than exchange a surprised look with his friends, he had been pushed into the living room of Caradoc's home, the host of the house, courteously leaving them to it.
"Is there something the matt-"
"Wait, shut it." Moody interrupted and Remus couldn't help staring as his magical eye swiveled in it's socket to stare out the back of his head while his one human eye still stayed fixed on Remus. It was impossible not to look at it. In a second Moody had turned and opened the door again.
Sirius, having been leaning right up against it, fell forward and barely managed to catch himself.
"You'll find it is impossible to eavesdrop on my conversations, Black." The Auror growled and glanced at Lily, James and Peter behind him. "Your friend will meet you outside."
His tendency to assume the worst immediately kicked in and Remus felt his throat begin to constrict in panic. He had only just met the man, what could Moody possibly want a private word with him about? Was he not the right material to join the Order of the Phoenix? He was smart, he could fly relatively well, and, despite how he hated to sing his own praises, he was damn good in a duel and with spellwork. Should he have volunteered to go to Knockturn Alley? But then Lily and James hadn't volunteered for anything so that couldn't be the problem.
"Now…" Moody growled a minute later when he was satisfied they would not be overhead, effectively silencing Remus' internal monologue of panic. "Is there somethin' you wanna tell me?"
"I…" Unsure of how to answer that, he merely opened and closed his mouth a few times, his green eyes flicking away from Moody's unnerving stare to the carpeted floor. "No, sir. But I have no reservations or anything, I want to be here."
"Not about that, kid." The Auror huffed and rolled his good eye. "Anything you might be...hiding? A particular skill set for example?"
He knew. How, Remus had no idea, but he knew. There was a glint of something in Moody's unmagical eye that said quite clearly that he knew. Still, in some vain hope that he was wrong and Moody really hadn't guessed the truth, Remus played ignorant.
"Well, I'm a good dueller, I'm great with spell-"
"Oh stop playing me for a fool. We both know what I'm talkin' about. I'm just giving you a chance to tell me yourself."
The young werewolf's heart sank through his shoes. This was it. He was about to be thrown out before he could really be of any use because of the part of him that had destroyed any possibility of a real life.
"Did Dumbledore tell you?" He spoke so softly that he barely heard himself and Moody had to lean closer to hear before shaking his head of shaggy greying hair and leaning back.
"Dumbledore didn't need to tell me a thing. You don't get to the top of my field without knowing what one of you looks like. Now…" He dragged the ottoman over with his foot and took a seat, fixing Remus with a firm look. "Wanna admit it yourself?"
There was no avoiding it now. The words circled around and around in his mind as he struggled to say them outloud. Despite being a werewolf for longer than he could remember, he'd rarely had to actually use the words himself. All those who had found out, had worked it out without his admittance. Dumbledore, James, Sirius, Peter, even Lily, and, still to his fear of exposure, Snape. Although the latter had been admittedly caused by Sirius.
It felt as though he stood there silently for hours for as long as it took to summon the courage to speak but at last he did.
"Yes. I am...a werewolf." He muttered, the shame at his lycanthropic condition came flooding back in all its pain the moment he admitted it aloud. He waited, his heart pounding loudly in his chest for Moody to throw him out of the house and tell him they had no use for someone like him, but no shouting came.
The Auror just sat there, his eyes fixed on Remus and his expression unreadable for a long silent moment until he grunted and nodded. "Good."
Convinced he had misheard him, Remus turned quickly and stared at Moody in surprise. "Good? You're not going to say I don't belong?"
"Listen, Lupin, I have met enough werewolves in my days to know that for most of 'em? They don't want to be the way they are. You're no different." Moody continued, "And most of 'em? Too afraid of the stigma to stand up for anything. That's where you are different 'cause you picked the right side." He rose to his feet with a small grunt of effort and scanned the scars on Remus' face. "I was there thirteen years ago in Greyback's interrogation. I was there when Lyall's infamous outburst had him thrown out of that courtroom. And I'll bet any amount of galleons it was Greyback that infected you after that, hm?"
"It was." Remus confirmed, his throat rapidly drying. "I was five."
"Well then...Voldemort might have werewolves on his side, and he definitely bloody well does, but looks like you're one we don't have to worry about."
"Please don't tell anyone. My friends know, and...of course Dumbledore knows but…"
"I ain't gonna tell the others if you don't want me to." Moody scoffed, "But they won't judge you for it, ya know? Well…" He paused and grunted a little "Some might, Mundungus definitely but they're a decent enough lot not to hold it against you. You know what I hear when you say you're a werewolf?"
"Bloodthirsty monster?" It was only half sarcastic, despite the twitch in Remus' lip. It was certainly what he thought of himself, and Moody was an Auror, arguably the best in the world, he'd certainly faced monsters like him in the past.
"Hm…I see…no." Mad-Eye took a moment to note the critical self assessment before impatiently waving it by and jabbed Remus so hard in the chest with his finger that he had to take a rapid step backwards to keep from toppling backward. "I hear bloody good tracker and physically stronger than most of the people that were in that room, despite how...long and lanky you look."
"Thank you." The relief must have been obvious in his voice because Moody's lips twitched the slightest amount that on anyone else might have been a smirk. Remus finally allowed himself to relax. He wasn't being turned away, if anything there was one more person who despite having just met, was arguably the most trustworthy ally to have besides Dumbledore, that he didn't have to hide it from.
The Auror grunted and stepped backwards. "Good. Then this conversation is over. Now get out before anyone gets suspicious."
Just as the young man turned to go, his hand on the door handle, the Scottish brogue of Moody stopped him again.
"And Lupin?" Moody hadn't turned around but Remus knew his magical eye was staring at him through the back of his skull. "Don't think that Greyback won't try to recruit ya. He definitely will."
"I know...I assumed as much."
"Right...constant vigilance."