The One With All The Slytherins

Chapter 36: Year 4

Shacklebolt wanted to leave at 8am. Apparently there would be a lot of "traffic" because there was extra security everywhere in fear of the possibility of Voldemort actually being back. Hence, the Order of the Phoenix taking the seven of us to King's Cross to protect us. I rolled my eyes when I found this out. I can protect myself.

I wasn't a morning person at all so I was extra grumpy when Sirius had woken me up at 7am to get ready for a train that left in 3 hours. Once we got to the station, however, after eating breakfast and getting some coffee, I felt more refreshed and energetic.

It was a normal day at King's Cross with people just going to and from work like they do everyday. There was no extra traffic there like Shacklebolt had suggested. I supposed he felt like an idiot right about now. I should tell him that.

The train left in 15 minutes so we had plenty of time to get there. I guess Sirius somehow knew this because he came up behind Harry and I in his animagus form and herded us like sheep into the room next to us, nipping at our ankles.

"Did you just sheepdog us?" I asked him as soon as he got straightened out back into his human self.

"It was the only effective way I could think of."

"The only way?"

He smiled and looked down at his feet.

"I-uh...I wanted to give you both something. There is only one so you have to share but...I figured you would find it quite valuable," Sirius said unsurely. I couldn't imagine what it was until he pulled a rectangular photo out of his pocket.

I snatched it out of his hand before Harry could get it and looked down at it, intrigued. It was an old photograph that looked like it was taken 20 years ago.

"The original Order of the Phoenix," Sirius explained. I inhaled sharply.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom," Sirius pointed out in the picture.

"Neville's parents," I recognized quickly.

"Yes." he paused somberly. "They suffered a fate worse than death, if you ask me."

I remembered Neville telling me about his parents last year. It had given me a better perspective of him as a person and I had more respect for him.

I looked up at Sirius. "How long has it been since..."

"It's been 14 years," he answered. "And still a day doesn't go by that I don't miss your dad." 

I looked at my parents standing in the picture with all of their friends. Half of this group was dead or good as well dead. It horrified me that that could be Harry and I 20 years from now. Lily and James were smiling and laughing alongside the other members of the Order of the Phoenix. I clutched the picture tightly. Sirius let us keep it and I mentally thanked him as my eyes began to tear up.

"What do you think is going to happen to us, Sirius? Is there going to be a war?" Harry asked him. I looked up, intrigued.

"It definitely...feels like it did before." The three of us got quiet as all happiness was replaced with a somber feeling. After a few seconds, we got up simultaneously and headed for the doors. I nodded at Sirius and he gave me a warm smile before transforming back into his animagus form and trodden back up the staircase. I glanced at Harry who was staring at Sirius longingly. It devastated me to see Sirius and Harry like this, but not because they were leaving each other. It was because I knew they both looked for James in each other.

I couldn't find any of my Slytherin friends at the platform. I figured they were all already in the Slytherin carriage. I wasn't planning on sitting with my Gryffindor friends on the way there just because I had spent all summer with them so it would be nice to see my other friends again.