Priori Incantatem [HARRY POTTER FANFICTION]

Chapter 52: Ready or Not

Chapter 52: Ready or Not

June 1980

Another week, another Order meeting, James thought as he watched his fellow Order members collect their belongings and prepare to leave. It was their first large-scale meeting since Kathleen's death and Remus' disappearance, and the entire Order had been a bit subdued tonight, especially James, Lily, Sirius, Alice, Frank, Dorcas, and Peter.

It had been weeks since they'd found his note, and still no word from Remus. It made James sick to think about him having to cope with the full moon by himself; Remus had always been so worried about accidentally hurting or even killing someone in his animal form, and James, Sirius, and Peter weren't there to help him now. James knew that Sirius and Peter worried about it too, but they rarely mentioned it to one another. None of them knew what Remus was doing and it just made it that much more depressing to speculate about it.

The sound of a creaking chair distracted James from his upsetting line of thought and he turned to see Lily quietly struggling to get out of her seat. Now more than seven months pregnant, Lily was finding her ever expanding abdomen to be a bit of a liability.

"Let me help you," James said immediately, jumping to his feet and extending his hand.

Lily watched James move with something like envy on her face. "No, thanks," she replied a bit stiffly. "You won't be here to help me all the time, so I've got to be able to do it myself."

"Erm – ok…." James didn't really get it, but apparently it was a matter of principle. Instead, he did the prudent thing and watched expressionlessly as Lily struggled to her feet, pink with effort, and immediately put her hands to the small of her back, as though the area ached.

Lily had been a bit moody lately, (although she still didn't hold a candle to Alice) ever since she'd found out that Petunia had given birth to a baby boy. Lily had actually been happy for her sister, in spite of the fact that Petunia had named the baby Dudley, and had wanted to go and visit Petunia and Dudley in hospital until Mrs Evans told her that Petunia didn't want to see her. James had wanted to go to the hospital just to spite them, but Lily had been very hurt over the whole incident. Apparently motherhood had not made Petunia more tolerant.

They were some of the few remaining Order members now; nearly all of the others had dispersed, leaving in small groups to avoid appearing suspicious. Dumbledore and Moody lingered, however, talking in hushed voices in one corner of the room. Not wanting to disturb them, Lily and James walked as quietly as possible to the door where Sirius, Peter, Alice, Frank, and Dorcas waited for them, yawning and looking bleary-eyed. Dumbledore had been trying to vary the times of their Order meetings lately to avoid detection, and today's meeting had begun at half-past seven on a Saturday morning, which was not many members' most alert time.

"May we have a word with all of you before you go?" Professor Dumbledore and Moody had finished their conversation and were now standing in front of the former Gryffindors, their expressions solemn.

"Sure," James replied, glancing round him for confirmation. The seven took seats and waited as the last few Order members trickled out. As soon as they had, Moody shut the door and sealed it with a locking charm. James and Sirius exchanged glances, but decided not to comment as yet.

Dumbledore and Moody turned their chairs to face the rest of them and sat down wearing nearly identical serious expressions. "Did Kathleen speak to any of you about what she was working on before she died?" Dumbledore asked without preamble, his eyes scrutinizing each one in turn.

Lily, Alice, and Dorcas exchanged glances. "Lily?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Well, she didn't say anything to us exactly," Lily hedged. "It was more what she didn't say."