(35 : TO CROSS MY OBSEQUIES . . .
AND TRUE LOVE'S RITE)

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     WHEN THE COUPLE RETURNED FROM their date — hand in hand — there was an uneasiness in the air. It was as silent as a crypt when they entered Potter Manor, which was disconcerting given how loud and lively the residence usually was. This only made James clutch Juliet's hand tighter as he produced his wand before leading her to the parlour.

The tension dissipated when they walked into the parlour and James lowered his wand, relieved. Sirius, Peter and Remus were sat unharmed on the couch. It was a deceptively innocent scene that belonged in a painting — all three boys were quiet, arranged side by side in stiff positions with identical grave expressions. For a moment, Juliet entertained the notion it was a prank, half-expecting them to suddenly drop the solemnity and scream 'gotcha!'

     "Who died?" Juliet forced out a breathy laugh, her shoulders slumping.

     James craned his neck, peeking into the kitchen. "Where's Mum and Dad?"

      "Mia took Dippy shopping," offered Remus. "And your dad, um, got called out by Rufus Scrimgeour a couple of hours ago. It was confidential, we're not sure what for."

"As in Rufus Scrimgeour, Head Auror?" questioned James, miffed. "What would he want with my dad? I mean, he's a retired potioneer. Fat lot of help he'll be where aurors are concerned."

Remus glanced away. "Well, we found something out whilst you were out. You see, we had to take a Floo call and —"

"Mate, your parents are the benefactors behind the Order of the Phoenix," spilled Sirius, impatient. "Dumbledore stuck his head through the Floo and apparently your parents have been part of the Order since its conception. Instead of actively participating with their age and all, they contribute funds, but Dumbledore said —"

     Peter cleared his throat. "Wait, I want to know how Prongs' date went."

     Exasperated, Remus and Sirius groaned, "Peter!"

     "What?" He shrugged, seemingly oblivious. "I was showing an interest in my friend's life instead of being all doom and glo — Godric, did you go on a date with Juliet?" Peter's eyes widened, openly gaping at the couple's locked hands. "But she's — she's a —"

     Juliet narrowed her eyes. "A what, Pettigrew?"

     "A lovely girl, I'm sure," he coughed out. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Nobody answered him. In fact, nobody appeared half as surprised as Peter.

Sirius clapped his hands together and continued, "As I was saying —"

"No! I want to talk about this. Did you lot already know?" Affronted, the pudgy boy directed his question at Sirius and Remus, both of whom were avoiding direct eye contact. "Right then, I see how it is. It's only Wormtail, nobody cares if he's left out. Well, you know what, I care. I'm sick of always being the last to know things like this when I'm as much of a Marauder as any of you. We made a blood vow that we'd never keep secrets from each other, that we would always be a brotherhood —"

"Pete, we were eleven and we had to use strawberry syrup because you faint at the sight of blood," defended James, dropping the redhead's hand. "And, for the record, I didn't tell Moony either. It's not like anyone was intentionally leaving you out, so don't get your knickers in a twist." He kept his tone playful, then it darkened when he added, "I trust everyone in this room and trust is more important than ever right now. Yes, that includes Juliet because we are dating and nobody outside of this room can know about it, alright?"

Juliet rolled her eyes. "Great, now that's sorted, how about we focus on the actual matter at hand?" When she was met with blank stares, she sarcastically prompted, "As in why all three of you looked like Voldemort had knocked on and performed a strip tease when we first came in."

"You said his name," whispered James.

"Oh," she blinked, "I guess I did."

     "We don't have time for this," said Sirius. "Dumbledore has an assignment for your parents, but he still hasn't figured out how to directly message members. By the time your parents get back, it'll be too late." He meaningfully paused, lifting his eyebrows. "It's a standard surveillance operation, a low stakes one at that. Apparently there's been some Death Eater activity near an abandoned warehouse in Birmingham. It's a simple case of checking the perimeter and deterring the muggles. I told Dumbledore we would let your parents know, but . . ."

     Hearing the suggestive tone of Sirius' explanation, Juliet shook her head. "I'm telling you now that whatever you're planning won't end well," she argued, ignoring the budding mischief in the room. "There's a reason you aren't part of the Order yet, Sirius."

     Faltering, James looked between his best friend and the girl he was dating. "Somebody needs to go though. And I don't fancy that somebody being my sixty year old parents."

     "And I don't want that somebody to be my classmates who haven't even passed their N.E.W.T. exams!" Juliet countered fiercely. "Plus, I bet Dumbledore already assigned someone else when he found out your parents weren't home."

    "The Order is stretched thin as it is, Juliet. Believe me, the two sixty year olds were not his first choice for this mission," Sirius replied matter-of-factly. "A lot of people think it's a good idea, but they don't want to be part of the resistance if it puts them on Voldemort's radar."

     "Good for them! They're not a bunch of bloody idiots like you four then!" Her exclamations were more angry than she intended them to be. "None of you are prepared to take on Death Eaters. And don't even argue with me because I know it wouldn't be a standard surveillance mission with you boys involved. If you saw a Death Eater, you wouldn't stay down, you would would fight because all of you are infuriatingly Gryffindor."

     James frowned. "We fought Death Eaters in Hogsmeade."

     "And a little girl died, in case you forgot," spat Juliet, the guilt of Anna's death hanging over her like a dark cloud. "You're living in a fantasy world, James. If it comes down to a fight to the death, a Death Eater will win and not the boy whose darkest spell in his arsenal is levicorpus. That's not an insult to your duelling abilities either, it's the difference between you and them. They can't be reasoned with."

     He turned away from her. "Remus?"

    "I agree with Juliet," confessed the werewolf. "Dumbledore doesn't want us going on missions yet and I think we should trust that he has his reasons. I want to help fight in this war as much as the rest of you, but it's too dangerous."

"Peter?"

"Maybe we should contact Dumbledore first?" Peter suggested, doubt lacing his voice. "It's not that I don't want to go, but we need more information."

"Fine," huffed Sirius. "You lot can wait around all day for Dumbledore to tell you what to do, but I'm going. It doesn't make a difference if I'm sent on missions now or in six months time. I'm ready and I don't want to — I can't — sit back anymore. I need to do something. I need to be useful."

On that note, the boy stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

Remus cursed under his breath. "We can't let him go alone. He'll get himself killed."

"Look, we'll go and stake it out for an hour or two. If there's anything suspicious happening, we'll send a patronus for back up." James was pacing back and forth, eager to figure out the best course of action. "Do you know the address, Remus?"

"We should teach the rest of the Order how to make a patronus talk," murmured Peter thoughtfully. "It's no good if they can't send one back to us."

     Juliet watched as Remus nodded and Peter summoned his coat. "You're not really going to invade a known Death Eater site without letting an adult know, are you? You don't know how many will be there, what they're even using that warehouse for," she chastised, ticking items off on her fingers. "If we thought about this rationally and made a clear plan of action —"

     Shaking his head, James stated, "There's no time."

All Juliet could do was watch from the doorway as the three Marauders hurried beyond the manor's wards. Like he had expected them to follow, Sirius was already waiting in the darkness and greeted his friends with high fives. He said something she couldn't hear before raising his wand, a loud crack signalling his departure. Remus and Peter were quick to copy him.

Juliet didn't comprehend the magnitude of her actions at the time, but she was suddenly running outside and towards James. She couldn't let him get hurt — especially knowing he wouldn't fight as dirty as the Death Eaters. By the time she managed to snag onto the edge of James' sleeve, the world around them was already shifting and she prayed to Merlin she wouldn't end up splinched.

Landing on the ground with a thump, the first thing Juliet saw was James hovering over her with an outstretched hand. The second thing she saw made her blood turn to ice.

At least half a dozen Death Eaters surrounded them.

     "How cute," an unkind voice mocked, drawling out their words. "It looks like Dumbledore sent some students on a school trip. I guess we should show them what it means to play with the big kids."

     A flash of light cut through the air. Sirius narrowly dodged the blast, swerving to yank Juliet to her feet in the process. Hiding her from view, he protectively stood in front of the Slytherin. If anyone recognised her, it was safe to say that Juliet Fawley would be a dead girl walking.

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A.N: SO, I don't love this chapter, but it was necessary for many reasons. It also made me learn that high fives were invented in 1977, how crazy is that? I'm very excited for next chapter though. Little note on this chapter is I've made a slight canonical change by having the Marauders introduce the concept of talking patronuses for plot consistency. In canon, they were created for the Order, although I'm not sure if it ever specified if Dumbledore invented them.

I slipped in a little musical reference at the end of the chapter (but I also love that phrase? I think it's so clever) so my question of the chapter is, do you have any new music recommendations? If not, what is a song you associate with the Marauders?