stain ☾ remus lupin

THIRTY

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."