Untangle Me

There was a sober silence in the compartment as the Hogwarts Express roared to life.

"Well this is it guys, seven years at school done." James said.
"Good riddance too!" Sirius cheered.
"I think it's rather sad." said Lily, "I mean where do we go from here?"
"Anywhere we like, love. What's that muggle saying again? The world's your clam..?" James asked.
"Oyster, James. It's the world is your oyster." Lily laughed leaning into his side.

I watched them with a smile on my face. They seemed to fit together so naturally that it seemed crazy that they hadn't gotten together sooner.

"So what's everyones' plan?" Remus asked.
"Me and Prongs are going to become Aurors and throw Slytherin's into Azkaban." Sirius grinned.
"I'd quite like to become a Healer. I'm good at charms and potions so I'd be able to heal you guys up if you ever got into trouble at work." Lily said. "What about you Moony?"
"I'm not sure. It's difficult for someone with my disposition to find work." he sighed.

I had always felt for Remus who felt cursed by his illness. He was determined that he was a monster and so the way society treated someone who had his condition was allowed. He had divulged to me how isolated he felt sometimes, knowing that he was going to be alone. Too scared to find love because in his words, "what woman could love a werewolf?" The fact was that he was a beautiful soul and for that reason deserved to find love more than anyone.

"I don't really know what to do." squeaked Peter, "I'm not much good at anything."
"I'm sure there's something you're good at Wormy!" Lily soothed and Peter stuttered his thanks.
"What about you, Ophelia?" Remus asked me.
"I'm joining The Order of The Phoenix."
"You are bloody well not!" James replied.
"Try and stop me." I sneered, "The fact of the matter is that there is a war going on out there. An uprising is going to happen, it's only a matter of time and I want to fight. I want to be a part of something that helps fight for the greater good!"
"But it's so dangerous, Fi!" Lily exclaimed.
"I can't just sit and do nothing. If any of you had any sense you'd join too."

After a long silence, James spoke up.

"Ophelia is right. This is our future we're protecting, our children's future. What if we don't do anything? There might not even be a Hogwarts left for our children to come to." he said grimly. "Wands in the circle if you're in.." James said producing his wand and holding it out.

I stuck my wand out, followed by Sirius, Remus, Lily and lastly Peter who looked terrified.

"To The Marauders and The Order!" Sirius cheered.

We were a group of barely legal wizards and witches signing away their lives to a rebellion group who were fighting for the cause, and I had never been happier.

The rest of the train ride home took a much happier note as we played exploding snap, ate more chocolate frogs than any human should consume and drank butterbeer that Sirius had stolen from the kitchens after breakfast. "It's not really stealing if they're made up to give it to you. Could have left with enough food to feed us for a week if I'd asked."

My heart twinged with sadness as we pulled into platform 9 3/4. This was the last time that I would ever step foot on this train. We gathered our belongings and made our way onto the platform trying to spot our families.

"There's my mother.." Remus said," I'll see you guys soon though?"
"Sooner than ya think, Moony my good man." said Sirius with a wink. We all gave him a fleeting hug and watched as he went to greet his mother.
"I'd better be off too, mum will go barmy if I'm late." Peter laughed nervously.

We said our goodbyes and there was an awkward tension in the air between us. I could tell James wanted to say goodbye to Lily alone.

"Bye Lily," I said embracing her in a bone cracking hug, "make sure you write me okay? Try not to let Petunia drive you insane and you must definitely come and stay."
"You really are my best friend, Ophelia. Of course I'll write you, every day if you'd like?"
"I think my owl would get tired of flying to and fro that far. Don't you?" I laughed, "Come on Sirius, let's leave the love birds to it."

Sirius said his goodbyes to Lily and we exited out into Kings Cross station to wait for James. It was very rarely I was alone with Sirius anymore, even though he had lived with us for a while now, so it was more than a little awkward.

"How long had you been thinking about joining the order?" he asked.
I shrugged, "All year I guess. There's been more and more deaths in The Daily Prophet and that can't even be the half of them. The ministry is scared, even I'm a little scared but I can't sit back and do nothing."
"You really are a Gryffindor." mused Sirius.
"Do you think I'm crazy?" I asked. "Signing away my life like this?"
"You'd be crazy not to. You're doing the right thing and honestly, I'm slightly annoyed I didn't think of it sooner." he laughed.
"I mean, I've already spoken to Dumbledore. He's made arrangements for me. I just have to make sure that I'm ready for anything You-Know-Who can throw at me." I explained.
"I admire your bravery sometimes, Ophelia. Sometimes, I wish I was more like you."