R E T U R N
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A single suitcase was gripped in her hand, thanks to Peter of all people, who taught her how to use a spell that made everything fit in a single bag. The boy himself had used this on several occasions, particularly events that involved packing a snack, or many snacks, as the group of friends were always swiping food from him.

She was nervous. Her gut tightened and she felt as if she'd cry at the sight of the sleek, scarlet train. The final year had arrived, only to be followed by whatever the future would bring. There would be no regular return — or any return at all if the path she chose deemed it unnecessary — to her favorite place in the world, and she did not fully know how to comprehend that. It would probably hit her eventually, as she had seen numerous seventh years suddenly go into a shock that involved melancholy goodbyes throughout her time at Hogwarts.

Freya had not seen Remus, or any of her other friends since Fleamont Potter's funeral. She had written quite frequently to them all, and they had returned her notes written on folded parchment with ones of equal length, though the replies from James were naturally and understandably both short and bitter.

It didn't surprise anyone that Lily was not seen on the platform, and she assumed her fiery haired friend was already consumed in some sort of Head Girl duty. She momentarily hoped that she could get both James and Lily in the cabin for just a few minutes, only to tell them of her yet to be planned meeting with Dumbledore in which she would, hopefully, discuss the Order of the Phoenix. Though it would be an uncomfortable topic for James, he still deserved to know of the idea.

She stepped onto the train, taking each slow, careful step as if she wanted to remember. Freya had always been a very sentimental person, which explained the pile of letters dating back to her first year that were stewed underneath her bed in a large, tattered cardboard box.

Her thoughts soon faded as a calloused hand wrapped around her wrist and delicately pulled her into a cabin. Freya immediately brought her wand out from her jacket, but the familiar stormy grey eyes of Sirius Black stopped her instantly. "No need for that at the moment, love."

The blonde's body was then fully tugged into the compartment, which allowed the door to slide to a close. She then met the eyes of several of her friends. Marlene instantly stood from her seat and wrapped Freya in a breath tightening hug. When the girl's grip faded, she was immediately enclosed in the arms of another.

Remus.

She did not see him, but the feeling she was accustomed to filled her. The pleasant scent of coffee and linen wafted through her senses as she buried her cheek into his warm, scarred chest.

"I missed you," Remus whispered in her ear as his breath tickled the side of her cheek and caused a couple strands of blonde hair to fly upwards.

Freya turned in his arms so she could snake her own around his neck, "It's great to see you . . . How's James?"

A cough filled the compartment as Peter awkwardly shifted in his seat, he gave a welcoming smile to Freya before nodding his head in the general direction of the figure beside Marlene. It was James, who shrugged before speaking, "I'm fine."

She nodded briskly before turning back to Remus. At that moment, her lips craved two things. Remus and a cigarette. As she did not feel like hearing complaints about displaying her affection, she parted her lips to ask Sirius for a cigarette, as the pocket of her own jeans were barren.

As soon as she began to voice her request, the compartment door swung open with such force that several heads in the hall turned to look at the seventh year girl that was the cause of the ruckus. Lily stood sheepishly waving off the nosey onlookers. She took no notice to the Head Girl badge that stood out from her dull robes as it twisted upside down. Her focus and attention was spent on sneaking into the compartment successfully, before someone noticed her and assigned another task.

"Freya! Mar! Oh, Remus!" Lily hugged each of her friends that she had not seen earlier individually. The blonde could not help the smile that overtook her face at the sight of the girl who had grown to be one of her closest friends. "Where's Mary?"

As if on cue, the door slid open one last time to reveal Mary, who immediately bustled inside and dropped her things. In the process, a large suitcase accidentally landed directly on Sirius's foot. The thickness of the boot that surrounded his foot helped guard the weight from causing too much pain, but that did not stop the loud, "Shit!" that escaped his chapped lips.

The entire train ride was filled with jokes that everyone attempted to laugh at, but as James was usually the center of these jests, it was difficult to enjoy them as he sat alone in the corner of the compartment. The only emotion that crossed his face was one of melancholy thoughtfulness, and Freya longed to hug the boy.

Lily eventually slid the closed door open after nearly twenty minutes into the train ride. She reminded James, with a reluctant sigh replacing her usual authoritative voice, that he still had Head Boy duties.

"Wait, Lily. Don't you think it's time to talk about the Order?" Freya interceded the redhead nervously.

The green eyes of Lily blinked rapidly as she froze, pale hand still enclosed around the handle of the exit door. The same eyes swooped across the room a few times as she contemplated on who exactly was within earshot. "Right now?"

Freya nodded and continued to coax her friend into agreement, "C'mon, it's only us. Dumbledore said we could tell if someone asked, and I'm sure they would ask if they weren't caught up with emotion. I think everyone here would agree that they'd do anything to stop more innocent people from passing."

The bespectacled, quiet boy noticeably stiffened at her last words, but eventually allowed his shoulders to relax as a slight nod bounced his ruffled hair. Lily's face softened at his reaction, and she turned her gaze to everyone else in the room, who were staring at the two girls with anticipation at the unknown.

"Fine, I trust everyone here. Go ahead. I'll go tell them you're dressing into your robes and are running late," Lily directed this to James, who had made no effort to perform his Head Boy duties. The girl sighed as she disappeared behind the door in such a hurry that one might have assumed she apparated.

"So?" Mary questioned loudly. Her tone indicated she could not wait another second.

"Well," started Freya, " The organization Dumbledore formed is called the Order of the Phoenix. They've been working to stop Voldemort and dark magic. Now that Lily and I are eighteen, we can join."

"The Order of the what?" Peter questioned.

"Phoenix. Anyway, with recent events," she paused with a frown and looked up to meet James's gaze. Their eyes only connected for a matter of seconds before his snapped back down to his lap, "I assumed you'd all like to have at least an opportunity to join."

"Well I'm definitely joining," voiced Remus as he gave the girl a half smile, which she returned.

"Me too," agreed Sirius as he ruffled his charcoal hair, "I was looking for a way to keep pissing Mum and Dad off after graduation anyway."

"As will I," voiced James finally. Everyone snapped their eyes in his direction. Of course they expected him to join, but the sound of the Potter boy's voice was so rare after his father's untimely death.

"I guess this means I'll still be hanging around you lot after graduation, huh?" Remus teased.

"As if you had a choice," Sirius responded with one of his signature smirks.

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By the time deserts appeared on the table of their last first feast, everyone had agreed to join the Order. Peter was the last to comply, and Freya worried he had only said yes to joining out of his crave to impress his friends, rather than out of the desire in his heart to stop the evil in their world.

James had surprisingly given his consent to go to the meeting with them quicker than Freya has assumed he would. In fact, the messy haired boy has agreed before the train even pulled into Hogwarts. He said he would do it for his father, and for the other people he cared dearly about, and then rushed from the room in order to complete his remaining Head Boy duties.

The blonde found herself picking at her desert with the silver fork in her free hand, as Remus's was clamped around her other, rather than eating the food on her plate. Although the desert was exquisite, and she longed to savor it as it was the last first feast, her mind was elsewhere. Though she had known Dumbledore to be honest and true to his word, the thought of him telling them no made her stomach twist.

Their plates were eventually empty and the friends walked back to their dormitory with full stomachs. James and Lily were busy escorting first years to the Common Room ahead of them, and they would not walk to Dumbledore's office until all members could be ready together.

After an hour, the lights in the Common Room began to dim as the windows were closed and the humidity in the room died down. Chatter slowed as more Gryffindors filed into their dormitories to rest their tired bodies from the long journey.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Lily and James were free to return to whatever they'd like to do. Freya was relieved to see their time before curfew had not dwindled completely out yet, and they rushed towards Dumbledore's office in a clustered pack. Luckily, Filch could not assign detentions to them yet, though she was sure the Marauders would not mind, as most of their time was spent with the man.

"Damnit, I forgot about the password," Marlene sighed in frustration when they reached the large gargoyle statue that concealed the stone staircase that led to the Headmaster's Office.

James surprisingly spoke, "Sherbet Lemmon."

The gargoyle made no move to unblock their path, and James made no move to stop guessing.

"Acid pops."

"Cockroach cluster?" Sirius chimed in.

"Candy floss?"

"Is it seriously a candy?" The soft voice of Mary questioned as an odd look crossed her face.

All four boys nodded in response. Their numerous experiences in the office had taught them this.

"Peter, you guess. You're the bloody candy expert," Sirius scoffed.

"This is making me hungry," the boy sighed back.

"You're always hungry —"

"Sugar quills?" Lily interrupted with a guess.

Sirius looked fed up, as he was quite impatient, and with a dramatic gesture of throwing his hands above his head, he called out, "Fuck!"

"Pepper imps," the redhead girl said at the exact moment, and the gargoyle moved aside to reveal the staircase they had been trying so hard to open.

They slid through the passage and around the staircase without much conversation. The exception to this hush from speaking was Remus, who was in the process of making several whispered attempts to shush Sirius from repeating the password had been "fuck."

The stairs ended and Marlene, who was at the front of the long trail of friends, immediately stopped. This caused Lily to fall into the girl's back, and the continuance of the line to sway like a risky set of dominos. She turned after she grabbed her redhead friend's shoulders in order to keep her steady, "I think James should go first."

Without further words, the entire group slid against the wall and pressed their robed backs against the stone in order to permit James to slide between them with a confused look on his face.

"Ah, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said upon the boy's entrance, not realizing that the name he addressed James as reminded the boy of his father, and a sinking feeling filled his heart yet again. "I can't say I wasn't expecting you, or your hiding companions."

At this, Lily slowly pushed her way into the office and gave the elderly man a flustered smile. James watched her, but when her green eyes trailed in his direction, his own eyes were snapped away with more energy than anyone had seen from him in the previous months.

"I assume we are here to discuss the Order of the Phoenix?" The man said nonchalantly as he rested his chin on his palms.

Everyone exchanged a look of pure astonishment of his knowledge, which was not unusual, but still surprising.

"Oh how rude of me," the headmaster waved his wand and with just that flick, eight chairs fell from nowhere and landed on the flooring with a loud bang. The numerous portraits on the wall stirred and glared at the man for this. Some even yelled out rather rude, snarky replies.

However, after a great deal of minutes, one of these portraits refused to go back to sleep. This was the painting of a man named Phineas Nigellus Black.

Phineas rose his chin, as if to appear powerful, "Look who it is."

The onyx haired boy turned immediately at the sound of the voice, "Professor, you may want to throw his portrait out. Right out the window, perhaps. He's just going to snitch on whatever we do."

"What are you doing in here then, got in trouble again?" The portrait bit back.

"Nope. Just looking for another way to piss mum off, actually."

"You've already done that!" The man cried as his portrait was levitated across the room and into a chest for safe keeping. After snugly fitting inside, the chest snapped to a close and bolted shut, cutting off the complaints of Phineas.

Dumbledore sighed, "You looked surprised earlier."

Everyones' heads snapped away from the trunk that held Sirius's great-great-grandfather as his statement voiced through the spacious office, though no one made a move to speak.

"Sir?" Remus questioned, "How exactly did you know that we were coming?"

"Ah, well. I've seen a great deal of witches and wizards seek revenge for a terrible crime that has happened to someone or something they love in the wrong ways. Blood forced to spill in account of paying back those that spilled blood originally. I'm just delighted that you are seeking to fight back rather than plot vengeance."

Dumbledore spoke as if they had all disappeared from the room except James, who he had been peering at from underneath his half moon spectacles. As an awkward silence flooded the room, he maneuvered his gaze between them with amusement, "I got the chairs out for you."

A flood of embarrassed apologizes echoed through the office as each student took a chair.

"Now, I believe you came here to learn more about the Order."

Several nods immediately followed his words. The man observed these with a nod of his own.

"I can't tell you everything, of course. However, you need to be aware of what you are getting into. Stopping Voldemort comes with a high price, and I'd hate for you all to be unaware of it. I'm sure you know that the price is your safety. If the Order was discovered, his followers would be on us, all of us, instantly. Is that a price you are willing to take the risk of possibly paying?"

"Though it sounds unpleasant," Freya spoke, "I'm willing to face the possible outcome, instead of facing whatever else will come if we don't help."

Remus's hand entwined with her's and they rested together on the arm of her chair.

"Exactly," whispered Mary.

After a moment, Sirius spoke yet again, "Besides, what's life without a little risk?"

➤

AUTHORS NOTE
HOMY ANDJKS THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 80K I MIGHT CRY. WHEN I FIRST MADE THIS STORY I WAS ONLY EXPECTING 3K VIEWS AT THE MOST BUT OMG THANK YOU ALL !!! <3

qotd: when is your birthday?
aotd: june 8th !!! three days ahhhh !!!