James carried a list to Dumbledore's office bearing each of the names of those in the Order who had chosen to stay. It wasn't much of a surprise to James, the ones who had stayed and the ones who had left, he could've easily made this list himself without consulting any of them, really. James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Lily Evans, Marlene Mackinnon, and Emmaline Vance. And, of course, their silent member, Regulus Black, whose name they had all agreed would not be on the list, not even the copy they gave to Dumbledore. The eight of them would keep that secret exclusively to themselves. 

Dumbledore looked over the list, musing to himself, nodding as his eyes roved down the names. "A very strong collection, I do say," he mused.

James nodded, "The strongest."

They were sitting in Dumbledore's office two days after the meeting James had called in the Room of Requirement, just the pair of them. Dumbledore nodded and put the list down on his desk, then studied James a moment, and took up his wand, swishing it with a flick of his wrist. A decanter and two glencairn glasses appeared on his desk. James stared at them, then up at Dumbledore as Dumbledore opened the stopper on the decanter and poured a small amount of the dark amber whiskey into the glasses. Putting the stopper back in, he motioned to James to take the glasses closest to him, and Dumbledore lifted his own.

James felt nervous holding the glencairn. He stared down at the whiskey, then looked up at Dumbledore, in disbelief that the Headmaster was giving him alcohol. 

"To those who we've lost, and those who we fight to save, for the world we long to live in, and the lives that we long to create," Dumbledore said, holding his glass up in a cheers to James. He paused, then said, "In my family, we have long had an affinity for phoenix. It is said that when a Dumbledore is in need, a phoenix will ever be at their call." He looked toward Fawkes for a moment, then back to James. "Perhaps that is why the Order of the Phoenix appealed to me so." He smiled. "But in my family we have a motto - and I do think it will be a rather decent motto for the Order to adopt... if you deem it so worthy, Mr. Potter."

"What is it, sir?" James asked.

Dumbledore tilted his glass toward James and James inclined his glass too. Dumbledore cleared his throat, "From the ashes, we rise."

 ;....,m nbDumbledore clinked them together gently, then downed the entire glass in one go of it. James hesitated slightly, then mimicked Dumbledore, thankful for all the times he and Sirius had drank so that the burn in his throat and the rush in his head was not new, and he was able to hold his liquor as he swallowed down the warm whiskey.

James drew a deep breath, and put the empty glencairn on the desk. "Very good, sir." His voice was a little rough and croaky.

Dumbledore's mouth twitched into a smirk. "A bit better than Sirius Black's firewhiskey, I imagine."

James's face turned a light shade of red, and he nodded.

Dumbledore leaned forward, uncorked the decanter and poured another small amount in each of the two glasses, recorked the bottle, then opened a drawer, removed a parchment, and slid it across the desk to stand beside James's glass. "This doesn't leave this room, but it is only fair that we both know who we are working with," he said, and he leaned back, took a slow sip from the cup, and held it, swirling the liquid just below his nose.

James looked at the list before him.

Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Edgar Bones, Newt Scamander, Fabian Prewett, Gideon Prewett, Fleamont Potter, Euphemia Potter, Aberforth Dumbledore, Filius Flitwick, Kinsley Shacklebolt, Dorcas Meadows, Bilius Weasley, Caradoc Dearborn, Florean Fortescue, Jasper Odair, Frank Longbottom, Andrew Woodhouse, Megan Johnson.

James's first surprise was seeing his parents names - he'd nearly overlooked them altogether because they were listed by their real names, not the ones they went by usually, and it was strange seeing them written out like that. The next surprise had been the name Aberforth Dumbledore, but upon the reading of it, he realized how similar the headmaster looked to the barman at the Hog's Head, and he couldn't believe he'd never seen the connection before. The next surprises were the list four names - Jasper, Frank, Andy, and Meg. 

"You will recognize the names of course of our most recent recruits," Dumbledore murmured, seeing the surprise flicker on James's face. "After Fallengunder, Mr. Odair insisted... Mr. Longbottom is, of course, at the auror's training center, and he is sharing a flat with Mr. Woodhouse, who also insisted... Miss. Johnson is quite close to Mr. Woodhouse these days and she approached me not long after Mr. Woodhouse had signed up."

James nodded, and his eyes moved over the list several times, committing it to his memory. These were the names of the wizards and witches who were willing to give their lives for the future of the wizarding world, whose wits and wills were tested by each political move that Voldemort took. They were the ones who made it safer everyday, bit by bit. They were the who James would be working with until Voldemort was defeated.

Dumbledore took the list back, laying it on top of the list of the names James had provided, and with a tap of his wand the two lists seemed to melt into one another to create a new page, headed - The Order of the Phoenix - with all of the names listed together. Dumbledore stared at them for a long moment, then dropped the list into a drawer of his desk, and pushed it closed. He looked back to James, who had picked up his glencarin again and was smelling the whiskey lightly.

"We of course have our men on the inside," Dumbledore said, "Unlisted for the sake of safety on their behalf."

James nodded, "We do, too."

Dumbledore sipped from his glass. "Now, to bring you up to date on what we know about Voldemort's current moves..."

Dumbledore began to describe to James the steps that Voldemort had taken in the past several months, how he had used Fenrir Greyback's influence over the werewolves he had turned to persuade many good people into following him, growing the werewolf army considerably. While they were unsure, there was strong reason to believe that Greyback and his army were camped in the Great North Woods, and that Voldemort may well be with them there.

Greyback had originally planned on infiltrating the Ministry using his army by enrolling several of his men in the Wolfsbane testing program. However, that plan had been inadvertently thwarted by the Resistance's move to take over the program at Fallegunder. This, Dumbledore admitted, was both a good thing and a bad for while they'd managed to avoid the possibility of a Ministry infiltration, they had weakened the strongholds of Fallengunder and ultimately it was this that had led to the attack and subsequent fall of the castle.

They were certain that another attack would be made upon the safety of the ministry very soon, especially with several offices opening new positions, as well as upcoming elections that would unseat the current Minister. Voldemort was too clever to miss the opportunity to place his men into the Ministry, and Dumbledore admitted that he was certain there were at least one or two already there, it was just a matter of identifying them.

In addition to the advances in the werewolf army, Voldemort had also approached the Gorg of the Giants of the North, and he'd enlisted their services. There were strange migration patterns of the Giants being noted weekly in the Prophet, and although the reporters didn't realize what the meaning of the movement was, the Resistance had recognized it for what it was. The Goblins, they feared, would be next, and they had contacted Caradoc Dearborn, who worked at Gringott's, to try and protect the goblins from becoming involved with the wrong side. 

The most disturbing of all the advances they'd seen Voldemort take had come in a letter from one of their inside men, Dumbledore said, a man in one of the wizarding prisons who had witnessed Voldemort's men come and go with the promise of allegiance from the Dementors of Numengard. The Dementors had stayed at the prison - for now - but they'd been promised the happiness and joy of the whole of London once Voldemort had prepared his game of chess and begun his attempt to take over the city.

"There have been dozens of attacks on muggles in the area outlying the city," Dumbledore murmured, "And we're monitoring those places, looking into who moves in to vacated homes and such, trying to gather as much information as we can... Voldemort's plans to move into the city of London is very concerning of course, and we simply cannot have that. He wants to get the muggles involved, wants to expose the entire wizarding world, create a war of massive proportions... He believes if he defeats the muggles, he will have another army at his command - of slaves, of disposables, as he thinks of them." 

James shook his head, "Blimey."

"So we have been working to stop him, to round up as many of the Death Eaters as possible... Trials are scheduled for those we took from Fallengunder. Many of them are offering information in return for lighter sentences," Dumbledore explained, "And we're inclined to allow such things, as information and names are among our most valuable assets that we can collect at this time. If we are given the right information, by the time those men and women are released the Dark Lord will already be defeated."

James nodded.

"We had plans to infiltrate Greyback's army, through Garm Tyr or Ned Veigler, but those plans were thwarted as we have lost both of those mighty men," Dumbledore said, sadly. He stared down at the glass of whiskey for a long moment, then added, "Perhaps one day we will be able to resurrect that plan... should Mr. Lupin be in agreement with our efforts, of course."

James felt his skin grow cold. This was the first mention of one of his own being put into such a dangerous position, and he took a sip of the whiskey as his nerves began to go to edge. This, he realized, was precisely what they'd all signed up for, wasn't it? He knew that if Dumbledore asked Remus of this that Remus would go, especially now in the name of Ned Veigler. But with those words Dumbledore had really knocked home the realization that this was not a game, as James had said in the meeting to the other Order members. This was real.

Dumbledore must have sensed this reaction from James, for he upturned his glass, draining the whiskey, and he put the glass down and leaned forward. "It is quite a terrifying thing, watching our friends fight him. Being a leader in an organization like this is challenging, as they look to you for the commands and ask you for the next step. You make choices that mean life and death, and sometimes you make the wrong choices. Sometimes the things you come up with and command, they end in ruin... They end with loss." Dumbledore's eyes fixed upon James. "But, Mr. Potter, with every loss that we have, there is a greater good which is served. The future of the wizarding world. For every loss today, there are that many more that are saved for tomorrow. Our movements must forever be focused on the next generation, on the generation that will hopefully rise up and never know the name of Voldemort, except for in history books - as your generation knows of Gellert Grindelwald."

James nodded. Then, "But one day... another could rise up in his place... as Voldemort followed Grindelwald..."

"Perhaps," Dumbledore nodded, slowly. "But that does not mean that we give up on the fight. It only means that we must lay down the example of strength and courage that those who will fight their future foes can look back upon and find strength in remembering."

"Like remembering how you defeated Grindelwald," James said.

Dumbledore paused, then nodded, "Yes, Mr. Potter."

James took a deep breath, then emptied his glass as well, and put it back down on Dumbledore's desk, and he looked up at the headmster resolutely. "Well then, sir, I can only hope that my example will encourage whoever comes next."

Dumbledore smiled, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "I am sure it will, Mr. Potter."