The Marauders: Padfoot

"We Must Kill Voldemort."

For months Sirius had been saying that a war was coming, but in truth it had already started.

I was eight years old when it happened. I knew something was up as my parents had spent a lot of time whispering, every time I went in the room they would say "We're speaking a moment darling, go play with your dolls." To which I would reply "What are you speaking about mummy?" and every time, the same answer. "Grown up things."

That was when the first muggleborn was murdered by Lord Voldemort, when the war 'begun', but the day the war really begun for me, now that I would never forget.

Of course, the sense of doom in the air had been there for quite some time, but really we all tried to deny it, pretend it wasn't there. Everyone except Sirius. But after that day we could no longer pretend.

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"Seren! Quick! Quick! Get up!"

I jerked awake, sitting up abruptly and rubbing my eyes to make them adjust to the darkness that surrounded me.

"Sirius what are you-"

I was cut off.

"-No time for that, come on!" He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me out of bed.

In my half asleep state, I only awoke when I realised that I was in the Gryffindor common room, along with James, Remus, Peter, Lily, Marlene and a couple of other familiar faces.

Sirius clapped his hands, although there was no need for him to gather people's attention. Everyone was deathly quiet, and it gave me the idea that something bad had happened.

He looked to James, a worried expression on his face.

Lily grasped his hand, squeezing it tightly before smiling at him and letting go. This seemed to give him courage as he coughed and began to talk.

"Du-Dumbledore wants to see us." He said, his eyes scanning around the small group.

"Then why are we waiting here in the Gryffindor common room?" Marlene, who was usually very quiet, piped up.

"Yes... Um... You're right. Let's go." He said a little anxiously before turning and leading us through the portrait hole.

The paintings all glared down at us as we made our way through the corridors of the school.

"Put that light out!"

"I'm trying to sleep!"

"You wanna watch Filch doesn't find you!"

"You kids should be in bed."

Usually the portraits would intimidate me, shouting these things in the middle of the dark night when it was mandatory for all children to be in bed, but Dumbledore wanted to speak to us.

The sense of dread begun to grow as I realised that whatever it was must be pretty important for Dumbledore to call on us in the middle of the night and wake us all.

Sirius and I were walking at the back of the small group, his wand was clenched tightly in his right palm, his knuckles white from his grip as he used it to cast light upon the corridor.

"Sirius... I'm scared." I whispered.

It sounded petty. Pathetic. But I couldn't help it. I was worried.

He took my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Me too." He said, his dark grey eyes peering into mine.

Eventually we made it to Dumbledore's office, he sat at his desk, his white beard long and wispy and his face worryingly pale.

He stood up as we entered and he climbed the small set of steps so that we could all see him. A couple of other students from other houses arrived moments after us so that there was a group of around twenty of us.

Dumbledore played with his hands as he begun to speak, his long fingers skeletal, like branches of a tree.

"I don't mean to alarm you all but we are at the height of war."

A few students glanced around and worried mumbles filled his office.

"I have invited you all here as I believe that you are the best students for the job, and by job, I mean that we are starting an organisation."

We all stared up at him in confusion. He sighed and took off his hat, clutching it limply in his hands.

"A muggleborn pupil has been killed. Murdered by Voldemort, and we need you, the pupils of Hogwarts need you, to protect the school and fight for what is good."

Gasps of horror and shock filled his office. A pupil had been murdered, in the school, under our very noses.

"I'd like you all to stay vigilant, watch for any signs of dark forces around the school and report any little thing to me, as soon as you see it."

Dumbledore, usually a force of strength and goodness looked a little defeated.

"I'm sorry to call you out of your dormitories so late, you may return to them now." He said, returning to his desk.

We all left his office in silence, a sense of panic among us. As soon as we were out of his office, James turned around to address our small group.

"I say that's not enough. One of our very own has been killed, and what are we if we do not right this wrong? It will only happen again!"

The crowd begun to get louder, shouts of cheer and agreement.

"We must fight for what is good, we must take down evil! We must kill Voldemort!"

The crowd broke into cheers. I grinned, and looked over at Sirius who was watching his best friend with a look that could only be described as pride on his face.

Suddenly, Dumbledore's phoenix flew through the air and landed on James's shoulder.

"A phoenix!" I gasped.

"Not just any phoenix, it's Dumbledore's phoenix." Lily alerted me.

James turned his head to the phoenix, lifted his hand and gently stroked it's bright red feathers.

"And we'll call ourselves the order of the phoenix."