Love You In My Mind // Sirius Black

Chapter 43

When I apparated to the church of Godric's Hollow, Sirius was already waiting for me, with the usual lopsided grin dangling from his lips.

"Hey Frey," He said, before pulling me into a brief hug.

"Hi," I smiled back, but I was a bit tense because I wanted to know what they wanted to talk to me about.
Just when I was about to ask him, though, Sirius already began to speak.

"I'm too impatient to not say anything until we're at the manor, so... Has Dumbledore reached out to you?"

I shook my head. I wanted to ask more, but I doubted that Sirius would answer me when he'd even ordered me to not send a reply by owl.

"Hmm," Sirius said, looking genuinely surprised. "I didn't expect that. I thought you'd be one of the first he'd contact."

Yeah, I knew that it was secret. But now I really couldn't hold myself back any longer.
"What are you talking about!?"

Sirius looked around. There was noone there, but he still leaned over and whispered in my ear. "I can't tell you here, it's secret."

I could feel his breath on my cheek and tried really hard to not lose focus. I ignored the goosebumps and suppressed the urge to shiver, so I just sighed in defeat.
"I already expected that."

"I want to tell you as soon as possible, though, so let's hurry and I'll apparate us to James'," he held out his arm for me to take.

I was not in the mood for yet another apparation, but it made sense that we'd apparate closer to the Potter Manor instead of walking. That way, we couldn't be followed - although I still didn't get what all these secrets were about.

That moment I swore to Merlin, if this was going to be a prank of theirs, I'd hex them into oblivion. I was way too worried to be joked with.

But all of that left my mind as soon as Sirius' hand met mine. It had been more than a year, but the tingly feeling his touch always set off still stayed.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on keeping my breakfast inside me when I felt the uncomfortable tugging and squeezing sensation of apparation. As soon as it was over, I pulled my hand away from Sirius, even though I actually didn't want to let go.

I opened my eyes and found myself  standing in front of a tall three story high manor. Its bricks were a dark red colour, and here and there a little ivy climbed the walls.
I didn't know whether it was the pretty garden full of blooming flowers or the little oriel on the right, which was showcasing many pillows on the inside, but the manor radiated a warm and cozy atmosphere.

"It's a really pretty house," I said while we were making our way to the garden gate.

"I know, right? You should see my parent's place." Sirius pointed at his mouth and fake-gagged.

I hated myself for giggling. "It can't be that bad."

"But it is!" He insisted, holding the gate open for me. "All black and... Erm... Full with shrinking heads and there's this weird umbrella stand that's actually a remodelled troll leg that's always creeped me out when I went downstairs for a late night snack. And then there-"

"Okay, okay, I believe you!" I quickly cut him off before he could continue telling me about really gross indoor decorations.

When he saw my disgusted face, he laughed. "I told you so."

I was too busy trying to ban the terrible image of a still bloody, very large, green and warty carved out troll leg from my mind to answer.

With a smile still on his lips, Sirius pushed the front door open and gestured me to walk inside.
If I had had any doubt that this was the Potter Manor, I would've lost them right this moment.
There were countless pictures of James from age zero to seventeen, sometimes alone, and sometimes with one or two of his parents, who I thought looked rather old on the photos.

The further I walked into the house, however, there were more pictures of the marauders and the Gryffindor girls from our year, and I could skim  some certifications on the walls as well. Whatever jobs James' parents did, they seemed to be pretty good at it.

The noise of someone running down the stairs caught my attention, and I turned to the staircase on my right.

"Hello Freya," James grinned. "Have you heard?"

It wasn't his fault, but I really felt the urge to roll my eyes. (But I didn't.)
"No," I said, sounding whiner than I'd anticipated. "Just tell me what it is already!"

James exchanged a dumbfounded look with Sirius, who just shrugged.
Then James looked back at me. "Let's go to the living room, alright?"

Sirius lead the way and James followed us, until he let himself fall onto a black sofa and gestured us to do the same.

I had to grin, because right above James' messy and unruly head of hair, there was a certificate for 'Sleak-eazy's hair potion', addressed to Fleamont Potter, who I knew was his father.
His son didn't do a lot to promote it, that much was clear.

But the grin was wiped off of my face as soon as James began talking.
"It's about Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. You know they're rising in power. Dumbledore came to visit us a few days ago and asked if we  wanted to join a secret order that fights against them."

"Oh," was all I managed.

"Yeah," Sirius took over. "And he asked us to spread the word, but only to people we trust."

"So we thought that, if Dumbledore hadn't asked you himself, we would."

I ignored the blush on my cheeks. "What did you say to him? Did you join?"

The boys exchanged a look.
"Yes," James said firmly. "We want to fight that maniac. The Ministry has to follow way too much burocracy to do that consequently, so the only way to face Voldemort effectively is to do it independently."

"But isn't that the job of Aurors?" I asked, confused. "Where is the reason in sending volunteers into a war when there are trained people for this?"

Sirius had a grim expression on his face. "Like James said; too much burocracy. Aurors are sent by the Ministry, and the Ministry doesn't only focus on Death Eaters. Besides, there's paperwork that slows them down. Dumbledore has recruited Aurors as well, and they are a real asset, but the Aurors have to fight without the Ministry breathing into their necks."

I gulped. Why was I born into this difficult time, exactly? "I suppose you're right."

James nodded. "So, what do you say? Are you in?"

I took a deep breath. I was going to train for being an Auror anyway, so it didn't make a difference. I wanted to be an Auror so that I could fight Death Eaters and protect others, and I'd do that in this order, too. So there wasn't much to think about anymore.
"Yes," I said. "I want to fight."

A grin made its way onto Sirius' face, and involuntarily smiled, too. "I knew we could count on you," he said.

"Great," James agreed, smiling as well.

"So, who else is in on this?" I asked. I wanted to know how big this order already was, and how the chances stood.

James shrugged. "We know that there are some Aurors from the Ministry, but other than that, we only know about us, Remus, Peter, Lily, Marlene, Dorcas, Alice and her boyfriend Frank."

So... Basically all of Gryffindor's freshly graduated students.
"Okay. And how will we continue? How does all of this work?"

Now it was Sirius who shrugged. "The first meeting will be held next week on Tuesday, in a house in London. Dumbledore will tell us all we need to know, then. You can come over here on Tuesday morning, and then we'll go to the meeting together?"

"Okay," I nodded. I started to feel quite nervous, now. I was really going to fight in this war. But at least I wasn't alone.

And while I was determined that the fight was worth it, that still couldn't cancel out all of my fears.