"I can't believe this, we save Moony - "

"Technically we didn't save him," I cut in, as I lay back against James who winced slightly as I lay against his chest. Hastily, I moved back but he pulled me onto him and I curled up against him.

"Well, we meant to," Sirius replied, "We don't deserve this, we did nothing wrong. I want to go back to our house, I want to fight. This isn't fair."

"I don't know," James replied, leisurely stretching his arms in the back of the sofa, "As far as bases go, Elphias's house is definitely not the worse. Nice of him to let us stay here - "

"Nice? You think it's nice?" Sirius stood up and began pacing, "We're being babysat for our 'wrong doings', this isn't nice, this is house arrest!"

"But this isn't our house, so..."

"You get the idea, Lily," Sirius turned dramatically on his heel. Me and James exchanged a look, we both knew it was true. Although we'd been brought here under the pretence of 'recovering from our injuries' but we all knew it was so they could keep a close eye on us. At first it had been nice, people from the Order came and went from the house of Elphias Doge and I met people I'd never even knew were part of this.

The stories they told were interesting and it made me realise that compared to some of them, we really hadn't experienced anything. One man had already been in several conflicts, including the Grindlewald uprisings where he'd essentially been a triple agent, saving countless muggle lives... at least that's what he said.

However, after a little while the fun wore off and it became worse and worse hearing about the attacks and the violence when there was nothing I could do to stop it. People vanished without a trace sometimes and all we could do was sit around here, waiting and hoping that we'd eventually be seen as fit to fight again. I'd never been a troublemaker so this was scarily new to me.

It had also given me a hell of a lot of time to plan my wedding which was coming up incredibly soon. Hopefully I'd be allowed to go to my own wedding or that would truly be the most depressing wedding ever: a wedding with no bride or groom. Tuney would probably love it though.

"The core concept remains the same," Sirius continued, "We're not allowed out without supervision, we can't go home unless we have an escort with us, hell, I can't even go and see Moony in hospital. This is just the worse."

"At least you don't have to face Marlene," James replied.

"Yet," I added on quickly, "You two have to speak about it at some point... I'll make sure of it, if you won't."

"I told you, it was mutual," Sirius mumbled, quickly returning to his chair as if it somehow gave him more protection, "We don't need to talk about it."

"Maybe you won't talk about it, but I will make you write to her. She seems to be avoiding this house a bit, only coming when she knows your asleep - "

"How does she know when I'm asleep?" Sirius asked, raising his eyebrow, "Is she here...?"

"Relax, Sirius," I replied dryly, "Marlene has better things to do than watch whether you're sleeping or not. She sends me an owl whenever she wants to come visit and always makes sure to check that you're not around."

"Oh. Fair enough," Sirius replied.

"Speaking of owls and letters," James gently nudged me off of him and stood up, "I need to write to my father. He sent me an owl a few days ago and I still haven't replied."

"Is this still about Eden?"

James nodded curtly. He'd refused to talk about the incident even though I felt that talking about it would help. In the brief moments that he talked about it, he seemed to think it made him weak which was the most ridiculous logic I'd ever heard. If crying made you weak then how the hell did I bite Lord Voldemort. I'd said it so many times and I think people were sick of it but I'd probably still be saying it when I was old and grey.

"They'll let me to go to the funeral, right?" James asked, sitting down at the table with his quill and parchment.

"If not, just sneak out with the invisibility cloak."

"Can't," James replied, "Dumbledore has it."

"Dumbledore has it... why did you give it to him?" Sirius said with a grin.

James shrugged, "He was very insistent, don't worry, he said he'd give it back in a few days. I wasn't using it although I do regret it a bit now - " He was interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door which echoed around the halls. I could hear Elphias run down the stairs as he always did whenever there was the slightest sound. He'd lost his wife in the Grindlewald uprisings so now he would wake up the slightest sound, he said he'd hadn't slept soundly since she'd passed. He was old but powerful and dedicated to keeping as many of us safe as possible.

The three of us stood up and I pulled my wand out of my pocket. Even though given the amount of charms on this place, it was unlikely anyone who wasn't in the Order could find it but I was still paranoid about it.

"Stay here, I'm going to see who it is." Sirius whispered, dashing to the door and peering out into the corridor.

"There's only one door in this room, where would we go?" James whispered back before returning to his desk.

"Sirius, who's there?... Sirius?" I hissed as Sirius put his wand back in his pocket. Sirius dashed out into the corridor and I hastily followed him, my heart stopped as I realised who it was. The light was dim but I could still make out the sharp jaw and heavy eyes. The wild witch with the black hair, the one that I'd seen in Arbury Hall: Bellatrix.

My wand was now tucked into my pocket but I pulled it out again as I dashed out into the corridor.

"Sirius, get away from her - "

"Lily, I know what you're thinking," Sirius began, holding out his hands. Bellatrix's face took on a distinctly annoyed tone yet she didn't reach for her wand, instead holding her hands behind her as if she were reaching for something.

"No, Sirius, that's her - " I held my wand out, "How did you get in here?"

"Look, I know who you think I am - " She began before a soft voice from the shadows spoke.

"Lily, it's not Bellatrix," I turned around to see Remus slowly walking towards me. For a second, I wondered why he'd been hiding in the shadows before realising that a coat rack stood in the corner and he hadn't just been lurking there for dramatic effect. I ran over to him and gave him as gentle a hug as I could, he was probably still in a lot of pain, it was remarkable he was even here.

"Prongs, get your arse in here!" Sirius yelled.

"Then why does she look like her..."

"It's called genetics," She replied coldly and I could see that I'd insulted her honour. She stood up tall, "A curse I'm bound to bear forever. I'm not my sister, please don't group me with her again."

"I couldn't help it," I mumbled, slightly taken back by her offended tone.

"She's my cousin," Sirius explained, "And her daughter, Nymphadora."

"Dora!" An angry voice exclaimed from behind Andromeda. I peered slowly around her legs to see a young girl with choppy bright orange and red hair. For a second my heart leapt as I thought I'd met another redhead but quickly realised that it was too bright and luminous to be natural.

"Is her hair...dyed?" Andromeda looked offended at my question again and I could not figure her out. Despite this, her tone was surprisingly kind and I wondered if she just had one of those faces.

"No, easy mistake to make," She leant down to her daughter, rubbing a mark of her chin with her thumb, "Nymphadora, you've somehow managed to get messy - "

"Dora!" Nymphadora whined.

"Dora isn't your name, Nymphadora is such a pretty name, my darling." The girl stamped her foot and Andromeda sighed wearily, before standing up, "Nymphadora - "

"DORA!"

"Yes, darling, I know," Andromeda replied, gently brushing her daughters hair with her hand. She had a certain casual elegance to her, the same one that Sirius seemed to have, "Nymphadora is a Metamorphmagus, a very unique talent, I think my great grandfather had it as well, caused absolute havoc for the family. She can change her appearance at will, everything face, hair, eye colour... you name it. She heard we were visiting the Order of the Phoenix and voilà! Phoenix coloured hair!"

"I think it's lovely," I replied, "Red hair is the best."

Nymphadora looked at me expectantly as if she wanted me to say something else but that was about the extent of my kids skills. I had no idea what you were even meant to say to a five year old. Luckily, a distraction came at the perfect time, James dashing in and tackling Remus into a hug.

"Oh Prongs, my back! My back!" Remus squealed.

"Ow, my back!" Sirius imitated in a high pitched voice.

"Sorry, Moony!" James replied with a grin, finally letting his friend go, "Worth the pain?"

"Eh, debatable," Remus replied with a shrug.

"Why didn't you tell us you were going to visit?" Sirius asked, "Prongs might have actually brushed his hair!"

"Hey! I brushed it!" James replied defensively, "It just doesn't do what it says! I brushed it - stop laughing! Lily, tell them I brushed it!"

I shrugged, grinning wickedly, "Don't know what you're talking about, James."

James shook his head as the other two continued laughing.

"Boys," Andromeda sighed, "They really never change. Ted found his old broom in storage and I had to physically confiscate it to stop him from going into the garden and flying it."

"Ted is...?"

"My husband," Andromeda replied.

"Oh, how come he's not here today?"

"He's back at home," Andromeda replied, "I'm not staying long, I'm only here to drop Nymphadora off.  Again, Elphias, thank you so much for letting her stay here, you know how it is..."

"Anytime, Andromeda," He bent down to Nymphadora, "I do believe that I still have some stories from when my niece stayed here back in the fifties, muggle books, mind you but they should suffice. Have you ever heard of Alice in Wonderland?" Nymphadora shook her head, "Well, how about I read it to you? Does that sound nice?"

Nymphadora looked up at her mother who gave her a nod and with Andromeda's blessing, Nymphadora followed Elphias up the stairs. She watched her daughter go with a faint sad smile.

"I know that it's all for her own safety but I still wish she could sleep in her own bed tonight." Andromeda said after a long pause.

I had no idea what to say so my brain came up with, "Yeah, I mean... beds are the best... why can't she stay at her house?"

"There were several attacks near us in the last week, it feels like they're closing in on us," She gave a small laugh, "A blood traitor and a muggleborn, we practically have a target on our backs. I fear they'll take her. Her power is quite valuable, they could use that and it would be the perfect form of revenge. Eliminate two enemies and gain a new little soldier. I can't let that happen." She shook her head as if coming out of a trance, "Anyway, I should be going home now. I can't leave Ted alone for too long or he might start searching for that broom again. Lovely to meet you, Lily, was it?"

I nodded, "Lovely to meet you too, Andromeda."

She gave a small wave before gracefully darting over to Sirius to say goodbye. She gave her cousin a kiss on the cheek before stepping outside into the grounds before vanishing from sight.

"Remus, are you here on a fly-by visit too?" I asked, walking over to the three of them who were smirking slightly like a bunch of fourteen year olds.

"Hopefully not," Remus replied, "I mean I'm injured too so surely that means I should get to stay here a few days too."

"Yes, all we need to do is get Wormy injured too and we'll have a full set!" Sirius said, punching his fist in the air.

"The question is how," James looked like he was thinking very hard, "I've got it! We cast a charm on him that makes him look like he's hurt but..."

Remus shuffled over to me, "How have you managed to cope?"

"I don't know," I sighed, "Will be nice to have you around. You can help me plan the flowers for the wedding, James is useless and doesn't know the difference between a lily and a calla lily."

"... one has calla at the front?" He said and I couldn't tell if he was serious or not, "Planning a wedding, fighting a war and coping with those two. It's a wonder you haven't gone mad."

"Who's to say I haven't..." I said with a small smile and I wasn't sure if I was kidding or not.

I'm planning a new Blackinnon book called Searching for Lena which I'll hopefully have coming soon which I hope you enjoy! - E x