17th of May, 1978
Riley caught Lena going out of the Potions classroom.
"Oi!" she called. "You said it started in February, its May. Are you even aware of the existence of a calendar?"
"Chill," said Lena. "It's all right. And why are you even here? You don't even take Potions..."
"I would if I had the chance — stop trying to change the subject!" said Riley. "You made me agree to this and now you don't even let me know about it?"
"Yeah, fine, it got delayed. Nothing serious," said Lena. "They said they needed more time or something... Not sure."
"You're not relaxed or anything, you just don't care," said Riley. "I'm out."
"No! You cannot possibly quit!" said Lena sharply but then started lowering her voice as she noticed the stares she was getting.
"It's not called quitting if it hasn't even started yet!" said Riley in fury. She had had enough of this girl and her vague answers. She turned around and walked away to the Gryffindor common room.
"Fine! Okay," said Lena as she ran behind her. "I'll let you know about all these stuff."
Riley gave a fake smile and continued walking.
She reached the Gryffindor common room. She opened her mouth to tell the password to the Fat Lady, but the portrait opened as people exited the common room. Eight people.
"Hey — where are you all going?" asked Riley.
"Dumbledore called us all to his office," said Lily. James had his arm around her, Sirius pushed Remus up front, Peter followed the group, Mary was spinning around, Marlene and Dorcas were behind them all.
"He called all of you to his office?" asked Riley.
"He also asked for you," said Peter. "But we couldn't find you after History of Magic."
"Yeah — er — had a free block —" Riley lied. "Why did he call us to his office?"
"Dunno, don't care," said Sirius.
"Wow, that's great to hear," said Remus and slowly walked faster. Riley walked along them. They reached the office with the gargoyle at the entrance.
"Canary creams," said Marlene. The gargoyle moved, opening the door to the round office. The old man turned around, greeting them with a nod and a smile.
"I'm glad you could make it in time," he said calmly. "There's an important matter I should inform you all about. It's regarding to the war."
Everyone gave a small sigh, Riley rolled her shoulder back, she scratched her head.
"As you all know, the war is quite at its peak, taking away lives and endangering more lives every day... When Voldemort approaches, we need to be ready to fight back and protect ourselves. Most importantly, we must survive. Therefore, we've formed a force against Voldemort and, of course, his followers."
Dumbledore took a few steps around his desk, he paced around his office and then started speaking once again. "What we speak of here must stay here, they must be kept confidential. Do you understand?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good." Dumbledore faced the nine of them. "The order was mainly formed by me, I gathered people I trust, and we've been trying to fight. So, my question here is to ask if you would like to join the order for a good cause."
There was a ringing silence, nobody answered. Everyone looked at Dumbledore, then to each other, exchanging worried glances.
"Well, of course, there's no pressure on you, nor do I want to force you into joining the order. Nevertheless, I want to remind you that you'll be doing this for a good cause, you'll be inches closer to saving lives every second you fight him and his followers. I can assure you it will be safe."
Riley bit her lip nervously, everything about what might be waiting out there for her in the future made her anxious.
"How will it work, Professor?" asked Lily anxiously.
"You can be an order member full time or you can just attend meeting and help out with the missions. I'm sure you'll all be very delighted to be doing something... brave for the Wizarding World."
"I'll join," said James quickly.
"Yeah, me too," said Sirius. Dumbledore softly gave a crooked smile.
Riley looked over at James and Sirius. She couldn't believe them at first, but it wasn't a surprise after all. She wanted to help people, she wanted to have a taste of victory, she wanted to see people alive and healthy without being in constant fear.
"I'm in," she said.
"I'll join," said Marlene from the back.
"Me too," said Dorcas. Lily hesitated, Peter didn't speak. Mary wanted to say something but couldn't. Remus spoke up.
"I'll join too," he said quietly.
Mary and Lily also said they would join. Everybody's eyes were now on Peter, looking at him with hope.
"All right," he said.
Dumbledore tilted his head and smiled. "I'm sure you'll all be great members for the Order of the Phoenix."
***
Riley entered the Gryffindor common room, but then walked to the dormitory straight away. She heard the other girls also coming in the dormitory.
"Why did he want us to join?" asked Mary in confusion. "I mean, I would love to fight, but we are young, there are surely more experienced people out there."
"I think it was formed because those experienced people weren't even helping," said Lily.
"The ministry isn't any good," said Riley casually.
"I wonder who is a part of the order," said Marlene. "Maybe the professors here are, or even our families."
"They would tell us, though," said Dorcas. "Right?"
Riley wondered if Ivy was a part of the order and never told her about it. It could easily be true.
"I don't think they would tell," said Riley. She knew about the order's presence because of Will Dalton. He had told her almost a year ago, but she couldn't tell any other people this. She also knew other graduates from Hogwarts who had joined the Order of the Phoenix; like Jade Miller.
Riley then thought why Will would tell her confidential information about a very severe topic. He didn't even know her very well.
"I wonder how it's going to be," said Lily. "I mean, when we are officially out of Hogwarts. It will be strange not coming here every year in September."
"Yeah," said Mary. "I will miss Hogwarts."
"Me too," said Marlene.
"I guess it's the end of an era," said Dorcas.
"Don't be dramatic," said Marlene. "I'm sure we'll all laugh about our memories here when we are as old as Dumbledore."