The Order of the Phoenix

'I've only been here once before,' Petunia said. The group from the Hogwarts Express had gathered in front of the Leaky Cauldron, and looked up at the squeaking sign above the door. 'It took ages for my parents and I to see it, since it's charmed and all. But I haven't forgotten – and I can see it now.'

'Why only once?' asked Mary. 'We met up with Lily every summer here in Diagon Alley. Why haven't you joined?'

Petunia huffed, and decided that honesty was the best policy. 'It's not easy, you know,' she said quietly, 'having a magical sister. I came here with our parents, and with Severus, before she left for Hogwarts at the start of her first year. I got to watch them buy their cauldrons, and their wands through the window of Ollivanders Wand shop. I got to watch it all happening through a veil of normalcy. So I must confess. It is not easy watching your own sister enter a life filled with magic while your own remains bleak and boring in comparison. I've been very jealous and resentful – and now I want nothing more than for her to come back.'

She felt the arms of Eileen pulling her into a tight embrace. 'It is not your fault, Petunia,' she said with a smile. 'If it makes any difference, the love that you have for your sister – that is quite magical too.'

'Thanks,' said Petunia as she wiped a stray tear from her face. 'Alright, let's do this, and see what this Order is all about.'

...o0o...

'Is he still not doing any better?' Walburga shrieked on the other side of the door.

'A bit,' Peter squeaked back. He knew it wasn't going to take long before Walburga caught on to her son shivering in bed. Regulus had pulled through the night, mainly due to the good care of Kreacher. But he was still weak from the potion he had drank in the cave, and his fever was not going down. 'I better pay Diagon Alley a visit to see if I can find any medicine.'

'Then you better hurry up!' Walburga answered with a bang on the door. 'I need him to be fit enough to travel back to Hogwarts tomorrow.'

Peter waited until he heard her footsteps disappear before putting on his coat. The more he got to know Walburga, the more he understood Sirius' reasoning for wanting to move away as quick as possible. She was mean, inconsiderate, and clearly wasn't cut out to raise children. He was almost tempted to ask Regulus if he wanted to move in with his parents, but figured that would ultimately lead to more problems than solutions, and decided not to ask.

Going to Diagon Alley for medicine was a decoy, of course. In about an hour the Order of the Phoenix would come together at Augusta Longbottom's shop in Diagon Alley. A seemingly unimportant shop where a gathering could be held under the pretence of a New Year celebration. Hiding in plain sight seemed like the perfect cover.

Entrusting Regulus' care to Kreacher, Peter bundled himself up against the cold and made his way to the nearest Underground station. The Locket lingered like a heavy weight in his pocket, and it was weighing him under like a pocket full of stones. Normally visiting Diagon Alley would have been the highlight of his holiday, but now it was a tunnel that felt like it was leading to his inevitable demise. He knew he needed to show them what he had found, but how would he ever go on to explain how he had obtained it? His mind rattled on and on as he travelled towards Charing Cross station, and by the time he was standing in front of the Leaky Cauldron, a new plan had formed that could either save his life – or destroy it.

...o0o…

Augusta Longbottom ran a clothing shop in the centre of Diagon Alley. The clothes she sold were about as eccentric as herself, and she busied herself serving tea as people kept coming in. Alice was happy to be reunited with Frank again, and the group introduced themselves to new faces such as Caradoc Dearborn, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Dorcas Meadowes, Marlene McKinnon among many others. The two boys jumped up in excitement when Remus Lupin came in, who was followed closely behind Aberforth Dumbledore and Elphias Doge. Fabian and Gideon Prewett were followed by Arthur and Molly Weasley, and Petunia was pleased to see them again, as she remembered meeting them in the summer after Lily's first year.

'When are you due, exactly?' Petunia asked as she nodded towards Molly's large belly. 'Is it your first?'

'Make that the fourth, and fifth,' Molly answered with a scowl, and lowered herself into a comfortable chair. 'We had three boys over the past few years. We always dreamed of having a big family, but I did not expect for it to happen as fast as it did.' She shot a glance at Arthur, and the twinkle in her eye that followed betrayed her happiness. 'Oh look, there she is!' she said suddenly as she pointed out the window.

Minerva McGonagall entered the shop, followed by two very confused looking people. 'MUM! DAD!' Petunia yelled as she ran up to them, and pulled them into a tight embrace. 'I'm sorry,' she sobbed onto her mother's shoulder. 'I'm so, so sorry for leaving and –'

'—It's okay, Petunia,' said Arnica as she pulled her daughter back and looked her straight in the eye. 'We understand you need to find your peace with her disappearance as much as we do. But right now, there are more pressing matters than you leaving a note by the phone.'

'I hate to see you getting a part in all of this,' Erwin added. 'But now is not the time to be angry, or resentful, and I want to hear about all that you saw and learnt while you were there. I think I see another familiar face coming inside.'

Peter had come walking through the door, and his face looked as white as a sheet. 'Sorry I'm late, everyone,' he mumbled. 'I'm not feeling too well.' He quickly joined the rest of his friends, who all gave him a welcoming pat on the back.

'I think that's everyone for now!' McGonagall said out loud to get everyone's attention. 'Auror Alastor Moody has notified me of his delay, as he's dealing with two separate cases, and we shall have to start this meeting without him.'

'Excuse my curiosity, professor,' said James as he raised up his hand. 'Is there anything we need to know about these cases?'

McGonagall took off her glasses and polished them up with a piece of cloth. 'It would do you well to be less curious from time to time, mister Potter,' she said as she put her glasses back on. 'But in this case you are not wrong for asking. The first case I do not know, but the other case is about Muggle children who have gone missing. At the stroke of midnight in the Borough of Islington the Dark Mark lingered in the sky. The local Muggles have mistaken it for fireworks, but it didn't take long before the Muggle authorities were notified of a few children who were throwing snowballs around had suddenly vanished into thin air.'

Peter felt his fists turn into a tight grip. He had seen how the Dark Lord had looked at those children playing. He had left the room before the Dark Lord had left Grimmauld's place, and it had all happened under his very nose. The streets cleansed from any Muggles in it. Swept away to make room for those he deemed more worthy.

'—it is for reasons such as this that we have called up a meeting of the Order.' McGonagall continued. 'Headmaster Dumbledore may have gone off to Merlin knows where, but we cannot let it stop us from continuing the work. More and more people are disappearing. Muggles, as well as Muggle-borns, have become frequent targets of You-Know-Who's supporters.'

'Do we know what he's after?' It was Erwin's turn to speak. 'what exactly are his motivations for doing what he does?'

McGonagall had opened her mouth to speak, but the bell by the door rang as another familiar face stepped inside. 'Horace,' she said with a sense of relieve. 'I'm glad you've decided to join after all.'

'I've had to think long and hard about this,' said Slughorn, 'but after Severus and Lily's disappearance, I knew in my heart that I had to do something. They vanished – sorry, this is hard to say, under my watchful eye after all. I knew Lily had wanted to join the Order, so I am standing here before you now in her stead.'

'Severus Snape also intended to join the Order,' said McGonagall, which made de Marauders do a double-take.

'How can you be so sure about that?' Eileen asked, a bit more bitterly than intended. 'Noble as it is of you to say, it is no secret who my son was spending his time with. So many of us here knew that his life was leading down a darker path.'

'I know because Albus Dumbledore told me,' McGonagall answered with a rare smile. 'I had my doubts too, Eileen, I must confess. But Dumbledore seemed to know what he was doing, and he trusted that boy with his life. That was enough for me to believe it to be true.'

Eileen felt the tears starting to prickle in her eyes. Everything she had recently learnt about her son, terrible as it was, was shattered again that it had all been an illusion. What on earth had he truly been up to at Malfoy Manor? What danger was he putting himself in by playing the game on both sides? She had wanted to ask so many things, but no words came out. 'James,' she said eventually, 'Before anyone here starts making any decisions, I think it's time for you to show everyone what you found.'

James drew a deep breath and beckoned to everyone to join him around the table. 'It is a long story,' he said as he pulled out the golden box from his pocket, 'and it is a story that I will tell from start to finish to the best of my abilities. We are surrounded here by Aurors. Ministry workers. Teachers, spies, and leaders. Mister Evans, you asked what it is that You-Know-Who's after. First, he will go after the Ministry. We know he has insiders, as there has been very little news noteworthy in the Daily Prophet lately. Getting control of the Ministry means he gains control of everything else, and that includes Hogwarts. Holding influence over the younger generation will eventually lead to total control. And as for that control – he has found a way to hold on to it forever.' He placed a hand over the box and looked each and every person present in the eye. 'What I'm about to show you once belonged to the family of Gaunt, a part of You-Know-Who's maternal line, who in turn were related to Salazar Slytherin. I must ask each and every one of you to refrain from touching it, as the object is cursed with a very kind of dark magic.'

Carefully James opened the lid of the box, revealing the ring and the Stone that was set in it. 'Petunia,' he said, 'could you please tell us what a Horcrux is?'

Erwin and Arnica shot Petunia a questionable look, but Petunia merely nodded to them that it would be alright. She started telling her story from the beginning. Of leaving Cokeworth with Eileen, and of the book they had found in Severus' suitcase. She had wanted to go on, but Slughorn decided to take over, confessing to the very founding of the Knights of Walpurgis, and the horror that he had never intended to come out of that. As he continued to talk about the workings of a Horcrux, Peter got whiter and whiter in the face up to the point where he nearly fainted. The Locket, it had to be a Horcrux too. The world around him started to tumble, and before he knew it, everything went black.

...o0o…

'Oh look, he's waking up!' Peter could hear James' voice hoovering above his head, and was chewing loudly on a piece of bread. 'You made us all realise it was time for some food, mate. You feeling any better?'

'That – scared me a bit,' said Peter weakly, and slowly rose up from the floor. 'And I also haven't had any breakfast.'

As if right on cue Remus appeared with a slice of bread and a bowl of soup for him to eat. 'How unlike you not to be eating,' he said as he handed the bowl to Peter. 'You sure you're alright?'

'I'm okay,' said Peter as he waved it off, and gladly dug into the soup. 'It's just – I was already nervous coming here is all. And now with the whole Horcrux thing happening. I mean, it's just a lot to take in. I'm not exactly the bravest man around here you know. Have I missed out on anything important?'

'Only literally everything,' Sirius answered with a smirk. 'But don't worry about that. We'll fill you in later.'

On the other side of the shop the Weasleys, the Evanses and Eileen were talking vividly with each other. Molly and Arthur reminisced in the memory of when the Evanses had come to visit them in Ottery St. Catchpole after Lily and Severus' first year. Learning all about their shenanigans at Hogwarts as they tried to keep them at bay in their role as Head Boy and Girl. 'You should come and visit us again some time,' said Molly. 'I would love for you all to meet our sons – and that includes you Eileen. I'd love to have you over as well.'

'Lily has written us a lot over the past few years,' said Arthur, 'and most of those stories included Severus. We thought perhaps you'd like to see those letters.'

'I would love that very much,' said Eileen, pleasantly surprising that there was more to be known about her son. 'Did you also know, that he wanted to join the Order of the Phoenix?'

Both Molly and Arthur shook their heads. 'I don't think anyone was supposed to know,' Molly answered in a low voice. 'Your son, Eileen – I haven't had the fortune to see much of him. But from what I remember during their first year at school he excelled at everything. Remarkably clever, and with a good dose of that Slytherin cunning too. Very good with puzzles as well, coming to think of it.'

'He could perform spells that not even students years ahead of him could perform,' Arthur added. 'I suspect Severus was preparing himself for what may have been the most dangerous role to have ever come out of the Order. I believe Dumbledore was preparing him to become a double-spy.'

'A double-spy you say!' said Aberforth suddenly from behind. Aberforth had been in deep conversation with Elphias Doge, whom by the looks of it, had grown tired and weary of it. 'That most certainly sounds like something my brother would have concocted.'

'You still think of him as your brother?' Petunia asked, which caused her parents and the Weasleys to look at her with a tilted eye.

'As much as old Doge here still considers him a childhood friend,' said Aberforth. 'We're trying to figure out a way to keep Bathilda Bagshot's nose out of this entire ordeal.'

'Have you ever considered a pre-planned accident, mister Dumbledore?' said Sirius as he suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

'I think we all know what a pre-planned accident can lead to, young man,' Aberforth responded darkly, and his eyes glided over the table to where the golden box was still standing in the middle. 'Any idea on where it is going to be kept while the rest of us figure out how to destroy it?'

'I suppose the fewer people that know, the better,' said Sirius. 'But I think James already talked it over with professor McGonagall, and that ought to be good enough. But as his brother, do you actually know why Headmaster Dumbledore named it the Order of the Phoenix?'

Aberforth raised an eyebrow up at Sirius' question. 'Haven't noticed a pretty singing bird has gone missing too, haven't you?'

On the other side of the room James had indeed spoken to McGonagall about keeping the ring safe, and they both agreed that Hogwarts was the safest place for it to be. After James had joined the conversation the Aurors from the Ministry and Slughorn were having, Peter found his way to speak to her alone, asking to have a private conversation with her as soon as they had returned to Hogwarts.

He had an idea before, but it vanished with the revelation of the Horcruxes, and made room for a much better idea instead. There was no need for him to reveal the Locket now. In fact, that was no need to steal the Sword of Gryffindor at all.

...o0o…

There was no official ceremony. No sword was drawn to tap anyone officially as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, or so it seemed. The new members wrote their name on an ever expanding list, which stated that they were now members of a secret society founded to oppose Lord Voldemort and his followers. To write down your name meant that you were bound by that oath, and could only dissolve once Lord Voldemort had been defeated.

It didn't seem like much, but it was not meant to be taken lightly. Everyone had their part to play. Their work to be done. Their secrets to keep. The hunt for the Horcruxes had started, and for their destruction even more.

The gathering of the Order was about to be called to an end when the bell rang and the door was slammed open, revealing a very weathered Alastor Moody. He looked around the room with his strict beady eyes, and his wooden leg thumped loudly across the floor as he stepped inside. 'Which one of you is Eileen Snape?' he called out.

'Well, that's – me,' Eileen answered carefully. 'I suppose you must be Alastor Moody, the famous Auror?'

'You were part of the search party that looked for our missing children,' said Erwin before Alastor could speak. 'I remember your face.'

'Hard to miss those bloody scars now, eh,' said Alastor as he pointed at his own face. 'Rarely has it happened in my career that not a single lead has kept me in the dark, and that regret I still feel. But your children is not why I'm here. The Muggle children that disappeared last night also aren't the reason I'm here. It's for this. With a loud splash he slammed a wet book on the table. 'Do you recognise this, Mrs. Snape?'

Eileen walked her way up to the book. 'That's Hogwarts: A History,' she said. 'I have one of those at home – as does almost anyone in this room I suppose.'

'We know the book is yours, ma'am,' said Alastor. 'It's got your maiden name in the margins. We found it in the shallow waters of the river in Cokeworth.' He came standing closer to her so not everyone needed to hear. 'It was found under the bridge right next to the dead body of your husband. Some people walking their dogs found him. An assumption was made that magic was involved due to this book being found right next to him – but we've been able to rule it as a suicide.'

There were two voices rising up inside Eileen's mind. One was that of terror. Screaming at herself that she had been gone too long to keep an eye out on him. That his death must be her fault somehow. But the other voice was the voice of clarity. A voice that did not speak with words, but with utter stillness instead. The one person that had anchored her down in Cokeworth and had pulled her under – he was gone. The last limitation of her life removed like the final veil that covered her. She was free.

Horcruxes. Slughorn had made it clear it was not possible that there could be more than seven, and chances were that there were less than that. The ring was here. Rowena's crown, defiled by a piece of his soul, still lay hidden in the Room of Requirement. Riddle's diary that lay lingering in her house as if it were nothing more than a piece of junk. She picked up Hogwarts: A History and held it tightly against her chest. Her mind came back to the moment in time she was standing in.

'My husband has been found dead,' she said loud enough for everyone to hear. 'I do not wish to speak to anyone about this matter right now, as the situation is terrible enough as it is. Erwin, Arnica, could I please ride home with you? I'm going to need all the help I can get.'

Without looking back she tossed her coat over her shoulders and promptly left the shop without looking back. An utter silence fell over the people left inside. None had expected that the day that was meant for new beginnings, would start with Death come knocking at their door.

A/N Bill Weasley was born in 1970. Charlie in 1972. Percy in 1976 and Fred and George on the 1st of April 1978, meaning Molly is currently pregnant with the twins.
We don't know exactly when Molly and Arthur attended Hogwarts or how old they are. Most likely they graduated in the late 1960s, but I'd like to think it was a little bit later so they would have remembered seeing Lily and Severus arrive when they were 7th year students.

We don't know if Molly and Arthur were ever Head Boy and Girl, but since they were so focussed on their own children having leadership roles at school I wouldn't be surprised if it were true.

A/N Slughorn was never a member of the first or second Order of the Phoenix. After revealing to Voldemort how to make Horcruxes he choose to stay in hiding and safe his own life instead. With the disappearance of his students however, I figured he might start to feel differently about his position.

A/N Alastor Moody still had both his eyes after Voldemort's first downfall, as is evident as he still had both eyes during Igor Karkaroff's trial.

A/N Tobias threw Hogwarts: A History into the river back in chapter 31.