Friendship Reunited

Chapter One

Remus Lupin walked up the path leading to the little cottage where she was supposed to be living. It had been so long since he had seen her last. Remus remembered the last time they had been together. About fourteen years ago. It wasn't a pretty memory.

Inside the little cottage, Mae Julie was making herself a cup of tea. When she heard a knock on the door, she put her cup down and went to answer it. She opened up the door and saw a man that looked about her age, with the exception of the little gray strands sprinkled throughout his brown hair, standing in front of her. He looks sort-of familiar, she thought to herself.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely.

The man looked up at her.

"Mae," he said quietly. "It's me. Remus."

She stared at him a few seconds longer, then caught her breath. No way! She thought. It couldn't be. It was her old school friend.

"Remus Lupin!" she cried softly. "How wonderful to see you! Come on inside!" Mae stepped aside to let Remus in. After shutting the door, she looked at him and smiled. "I haven't seen you since..." She trailed off, remembering the painful memory of their last meeting...

He looked up at Mae. His eyes were full of sadness. He had lost four of his good friends just a few nights before, and the sound of her voice made him hope she wouldn't leave him too.

"Yes?" he asked quietly. She looked directly into his eyes for a brief moment, and then glanced away, staring at the carpeted floor of his living room.

"Remus... I have decided that it may be best for me to, you know..." she trailed off, not knowing how to say it. She knew that it would be hard for him if she were to leave him, too. But Remus wouldn't be the only one she was leaving. She was leaving her daughter, too...

"Remus, I found this nice little place up north," she could feel the tears forming in her eyes. "I decided to move... And, I won't be taking Hope with me..."

Remus couldn't believe what she had just said. He had thought that she might leave, but it was different hearing her actually say it. And... She isn't taking Hope? Where will Hope stay?

"You... what?" he looked at her sadly. He felt like he might cry. He loved Hope just as he loved his friends. Mae, James, Lily, Peter, and Sirius... She was going to leave. Just like that. She was leaving.

"Are you putting her up for adoption, or something?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"No... I found a nice, Muggle family... I am going to give Hope to them..." she said, quietly.

"A Muggle family?" he asked, surprised. "Honestly, a Muggle family. Shouldn't she grow up in the wizarding world, so... so that... I don't know..." Remus looked up at her again. "You are leaving me, too, you know... I have just lost my other friends, I couldn't bear to lose you too..."

"I know, I know," Remus said comfortingly, pulling her into a hug. The two old friends embraced for a moment, then, Mae, wiping back a tear, pulled back.

"Would you like some tea, Remus? I was just making some," she asked.

He smiled. "Yes. Thank you, Mae."

Mae smiled back at him. She was so glad to see him, even if it did bring back those memories she had hoped to leave behind. Then she realized there must have been some reason for him to stop by out of the nowhere like that. She looked at Remus, a question in her eyes.

"Remus? Why are you here?" Realizing how rude that had sounded, she quickly added, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I am very glad to see you..." She paused a moment, then continued. "Wow, I am sorry, that sounded really rude! I'm sorry-"

Remus held up a hand, a small smile on his face. "It's okay, Mae, I knew what you meant." She smiled sheepishly. "I am here on a mission for Albus Dumbledore, Mae. I am supposed to inform you of some pretty ugly events that happened just a few weeks ago at Hogwarts." He paused a moment to pull out a chair and sit down. Then he asked, "Do you get the Daily Prophet, Mae?"

Mae set Remus' tea down in front of him, and then pulled a chair out for herself. "Sometimes, when I am in the village I will pick one up. Why?"

"Were you aware of the Triwizard Tournament that was being held at Hogwarts this past school year?"

"Yes, I was Remus," Mae answered, slightly annoyed at all the questions.

"I am assuming you didn't follow up on how the champions were doing, or the final results. Am I correct?" Mae nodded 'yes'. "Then allow me to inform you who the Hogwarts Champions were." Mae looked at him quizzically. "Cedric Diggory." Mae nodded. "And Harry Potter..." Remus looked at Mae pointedly, waiting for her reaction. She started to nod, but stopped midway and stared at Remus.

"Harry..." she started to say. "You mean... James and... My little Harry?"

"He is not so little anymore, Mae..."

"Wait a moment. You mean Harry was one of the Champions? He would have to be only in his first year, maybe second..."

"Try fifth."

"Fifth?!"

"It has been fourteen years, Mae," Remus said gently.

"It has," she whispered. "But still... There was an age limit..."

"If you would allow me to tell you the story, then you will understand better..."

Remus started with Harry's third year, when Remus was teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. He informed Mae about what had happened at the Shrieking Shack. She had known about Remus' transformations, and had, too, learned to become an Animagus, but on her own, not letting her friends, James, Peter, Sirius, and Remus know. After she had successfully learned it, she told them, and was able to go with the Marauders on many of their adventures.

"...Mae... Sirius is innocent."

Mae stared at Remus as if he were mental. She didn't know what to say. She had been there when James and Lily had asked Sirius to be their Secret-Keeper...

Sirius put his hand on his wife's, Mae's, shoulder. "So, this is all really happening." He looked around at his friends. His little daughter, Hope was sitting on Remus' lap, tugging at his cloak. Peter was staring out the window. James and Lily, holding each other's hand, with Harry sleeping Lily's lap. Mae, sitting on the couch, staring at James, and then Lily. James had been Mae's best friend since before Hogwarts...

"Where will you go?" Mae asked quietly.

James exchanged a glance with Lily. "Dumbledore has suggested the Fidelius Charm... Sirius," James said, looking at him. "Lily and I, we want you to be our Secret-Keeper." Sirius tightened his grip on Mae's shoulder a little, and the two friends stared at each other for a few minutes. Mae closed her eyes, not believing what was happening to their world.

"Mae?" Remus asked quietly.

Mae stared into Remus' blue-gray eyes. She nodded slightly.

Remus continued his story, telling Mae about Peter. Mae sat silently through the rest of the story until Remus ended his story, explaining that Lord Voldemort had returned. Mae looked at him sharply.

"What?" she asked severely. "You are telling me that Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard in the last however many years it has been, who killed two of our best friends, and left Harry to be abandoned, is back. Alive and healthy, walking on this very Earth as we speak."

She pointed to the ground to back up her statement.

"Yes..." Remus looked at Mae thoughtfully.

Mae let out a long sigh. Rubbing her forehead, she said, "I suppose that is not all you have to say..."

Remus nodded. "Do you remember, the summer after we all left Hogwarts...um... Okay. Allow me to rephrase that... You were the youngest of us all, remember? The day after you turned eighteen, Dumbledore called you, me, James, Lily, Peter, and Sirius to meet him in his office at Hogwarts. Remember? We were asked to...

"I do hope you are all doing well.

As you all know, Voldemort's supporters, the Death Eaters, are growing stronger and more fierce as the years pass. Without a resistance movement, the wizarding world as we know it, will be lost.

That is why I have called you six here. I have set up a small group of people who will work together to fight back against Voldemort. We work secretly to gather information about Voldemort and his supporters, and then we use that information to fight against him. It is a dangerous job, but I have a feeling it will work. When we defeat Voldemort, it is possible another powerful wizard could take his place in years to come. Therefore, this group I am asking you to join, means that you could be called to duty, anytime. We are not doing the work of Aurors; we are just a small resistance to Voldemort and his supporters. We most likely will not defeat him ourselves, but we will make at least a pinprick of a difference. And that pinprick can help shift the final turnout of our future. I am asking you to join the Order of the Phoenix."

All six of them signed. James, Sirius, and Mae, being Aurors in training, would be the most likely to be targeted by Voldemort, Dumbledore had told them. They signed anyway...

When Remus finished refreshing her memory, Mae had her hand over her mouth and her eyes shut. Remus was sure that she had forgotten all about the Order. Mae finally opened her eyes and stared at Remus.

"So," Remus began, "Will you help?"

"Of course," Mae said, quietly. "What do I need to do?"

"Well, first of all, we need to contact Dumbledore. Then," he looked at Mae, "You need to talk to Sirius." Mae shifted uneasily in her chair.

"Okay, go on," she said.

"There will be a meeting in Dumbledore's office on July 20. By that time, we should have all of our resistance contacted about the meeting. This is a top-secret meeting. You can't tell anyone about it. If the Ministry finds out about this, we could be in trouble. Especially Dumbledore. Here is the letter from Dumbledore with all the information on it. You need to bring this to the meeting. It explains how you are to get there inside." He gave a small smile. "Do you understand all this? If you have any questions, you can contact Dumbledore."

Charity tried to follow all that Remus had said, but he spoke rather fast. "Okay. I will do that if need be." She glanced away for a moment. "Remus?"

"Yes?" he asked.

She hesitated a moment. "Is Sirius staying at your place?"

"Yes, he is." He smiled at her. "We need to contact Dumbledore, then we could go see Sirius, if you would like."

Mae smiled. "That-" A knock at the door cut Mae off. She glanced towards the door, then walked over towards it, Remus following close behind her.

When Mae reached the door, she opened it and found herself face to face with a tall, slender old man with a long white beard and long white hair, with blue eyes twinkling from behind half-moon glasses. He smiled under his beard. "Hello, Mae."

Mae's face broke into a large, friendly smile. "Albus!" She gave him a hug, then stepped back to allow him in. "How are you? Would you like to come in?"

"I have been very well, thank you. How have you been, my dear?" Dumbledore said, stepping inside. "How have you been Remus? Any luck with young Miss Julie?" Dumbledore followed Remus and Mae into the kitchen, and sat down at the table.

"I have been fine, thank you," Remus said, smiling. "And, Mae has agreed to help."

"Tea?" Mae asked, holding up a teacup.

"Yes, please," he said, then continued, "I thought she would agree, but I decided to stop by just in case you were having any troubles," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully. "I know that Miss Julie has a very strong mind and I thought that if she were to perhaps not believe you, well, I was afraid things might have turned nasty, knowing the temper the young lady has." His eyes twinkled.

"Well, thank you," Mae said absently, pouring her unexpected visitor a cup of tea.

"Thank you, my dear," Dumbledore said, taking a sip of his tea. "Seen as how I am here right now, I will tell you part of your assignment, Mae, if you would care to hear, that is." Mae nodded. "I would like you to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts, this year, and possibly next year, if all goes well. Will you do that? After all, you were almost an Auror, you had all the training necessary to become one, before you left."

Mae stared at Dumbledore, then smiling, she said, "I would be delighted to teach at Hogwarts. Especially one of my favorite subjects!" She sat down across from Remus, next to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled, saying, "I thought you would like to. You were top of your class in that subject, or almost, anyway. I believe Miss Evans beat you in that category."

"I think she beat us all in all categories, Albus," Mae said, smiling.

"Anyway, that is the first part of your assignment. The second part, may be a little bit harder for you." He looked at Mae right in the eyes. "I need you to retrieve your daughter and bring her to Hogwarts."

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