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It was chaos. Mad-Eye Moody was shouting orders over the top of the madness, but not to much avail. One or two people stopped to listen to him, before they got distracted and ignored him again.

Dedalus Diggle was jumping up and down in excitement, telling anyone who would listen that his cat had had thirteen kittens, and was trying to sell them to whoever was caught in his outburst – currently Edgar Bones, wondering whether or not his children would like a furry playmate.

A couple of feet away, his sister, Amelia, was talking hurriedly with Emmeline Vance about time saving housework spells.

“You know, apparently there’s one for getting at all the dust underneath your furniture – the stuff you don’t find for years until you decide to move your wardrobe an inch or two to the left. Very handy sounding, but I can’t get the wrist movements right, and I nearly broke an old vase my mother gave me in the process ...�

“Oh?� Emmeline leaned in closer, “What’s the incantation? I never seem to have time to clean properly these days, I could do with something a bit quicker ...�

A little further away, Frank and Alice Longbottom were talking to Hagrid about the best time of year to grow a plant that repels Billywigs (“I know they’re only supposed to be in Australia, but our garden’s full of them, and I was stung the other day, couldn’t stop floating ...�) while Benjy Fenwick and Sturgis Podmore discussed the extortionate prices of newt eyes (“I nearly had a heart attack when I saw!�)

Nearby, Marlene McKinnon was gossiping with her friend Dorcas Meadowes as they avidly read the latest issue of Witch Weekly together, wondering aloud if it was really true that Celestina Warbeck was engaged to the captain of Puddlemere United for the fifth time.

Meanwhile, as Moody slowly turned purple, Elphias Doge, sporting a tomato red fez, was telling Caradoc Dearborn about his problems with flobberworms, and in the middle of the room, stood Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, talking to the Prewett brothers, Gideon and Fabian.

“How’s Molly and the family?� Sirius now asked Gideon, who nodded.

“Yeah, they’re great. Kids are growing up fast ... and how are you guys? Still sharing that flat?�

Remus laughed. “Yeah, although I don’t know why I bother, when His Lordship here never bothers to clean, or cook, or ... or pick up his towels, or do any washing, or buy food, or wash up, or ...�

“Hey!� Sirius protested. “I’m used to living with a house-elf, okay? Cut me some slack ...�

“There’s cutting slack, and there’s downright lazy,� Remus snapped, but then grinned, and turned to Fabian. “Honestly, don’t listen to us, we bicker all the time ...�

Sirius shook his head in mock sadness. “It’s like being married, I swear to you. And Moony’s the Mother-in-Law!�

They all laughed, as Remus punched Sirius playfully on the arm. “Nutter ...�

A little to the right, Lily and James Potter were speaking with their friend Peter Pettigrew about his job in the apothecary on Diagon Alley. As more and more people arrived, and began to mingle and talk loudly, the noise in the small room rose and rose, until – finally – Mad-Eye stuck his wand in the air and let out a loud bang. It was an attention grabbing trick which he had, as a matter of fact, learnt from Professor Dumbledore, but during these times he didn’t like to use it, for fear that it would set off a mass panic that Death Eaters had arrived. And indeed, at the sound of the loud noise, every person in the room jumped up and grabbed their wands, landing in an automatic defence position. The atmosphere went from relaxed and friendly to dangerously tense in a split-second. It made Moody swell with pride.

However, before they could realise that they were in no immediate danger, he cleared his throat and began to talk.

“Welcome, everyone, to this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. It’s been a good week for our cause. As you know there were three genuine arrests, and I’m glad to say that none of us are dead this week.�

“Charming,� said James, and everyone laughed, including Lily – although, to her credit, she did try to look disapproving first.

Mad-Eye grunted. “Yes, well, you wouldn’t be laughing if it was the other way around, would you, Potter? Now, we thought that, before the meeting starts officially, we would take a group photo, for record purposes.�

There was a murmur of excitement, as several people – Sirius included – proclaimed that they were not nearly acceptable looking enough for a photograph, and started asking around for mirrors. Eventually, getting impatient, Mad-Eye cleared his throat once more, but before he could start, the door opened. Everyone turned to look at the latecomer in confusion.

“Aberforth Dumbledore,� the man muttered, by way of an introduction. “Albus sent me. Says he can’t make it, but he wanted me to come ... see what all the fuss was about ...�

“Well, if you’re really Aberforth Dumbledore, and not an impostor, then answer me this ...� Moody faltered, realising that he knew nothing about the man that he could ask to confirm his identity.

“Don’t worry, Albus signed this,� he said, with a crooked smile, and handed Moody a scrap of parchment, upon which was written Dumbledore’s thin, slanted handwriting.

Aberforth sat down, and waited expectantly.

“Right ...� Mad-Eye tried to pick up where he left off. “Yes, uh, the photo. So, if we all group by that wall ... don’t worry too much about being seen, you’ll be able to move about in the picture, I’m sure. Yes, Sirius, you can take a moment to do your hair, although I don’t know why you’re bothered ... if you were being attacked by Death Eaters, you wouldn’t worry about how you looked ...�

“I would want to die looking as good as I have my whole life! And anyway, a photo and a Death Eater attack are a little different, Mad-Eye ...�

They began to bustle around trying to all squash in front of one of the room’s small walls.

“Hey, Dedalus,� Lily said, in the confusion. “Did you say you had some kittens?�

Dedalus nearly toppled over in his excitement. “Thirteen! Are you interested? A little friend, maybe, for when you and James have a youngster causing havoc ...?�

Lily laughed. “Give us time, Diggly. But, you know, I’ve always liked cats ...�

Along the line, a fight had broken out between Sirius and Marlene McKinnon over a handheld mirror, until Hagrid had to force his way through the people and break it up. At the same time, the Prewett brothers started to bicker about Fabian apparently standing on Gideon’s foot, until it turned out it had been Peter all along. Remus was trying to organise people into some sort of order, until Sturgis Podmore told him be quiet, and soon, chaos had broken out once again.

Sighing, Moody once again let a loud bang emit from his wand. “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves!� he told them, severely. “You’re supposed to be the only thing stopping You-Know-Who from killing us all, and you can’t even pose for a single group photo! Now get to it!�

At these harsh words, people began to find their places quickly, as Sirius and James smirked at each other over his tirade.

“Careful, Mad-Eye,� Sirius said, loudly.

“Yeah, don’t lose your leg over it ...� James told him.

“You’ve only got one, after all!� Sirius finished, and they both laughed loudly, until a combination of the looks given to them by both Lily and Mad-Eye silenced them.

“Right,� Moody grunted. “Benjy?�

Benjy Fenwick, who was a professional photographer, pulled out a camera from the large bag he carried around with him. Levitating it in the air, and making sure it was steady, he ran forwards and joined the group.

“Ready guys?� he called. “On three, say ‘Dumbledore’, okay? One ... two ... three!�

“Dumbledore!� they all cried, except Sirius, who yelled “Crackpot!� at the top of his voice, before he and James burst out laughing, and the moment was frozen in time.


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AN: There you go. Before I beg for reviews, can I say that all the people mentioned are people that Moody named when he was showing Harry the photograph in The Order of the Phoenix, although there were probably more. If you go to that scene (in “The Woes of Mrs Weasley�, to make it easier) then Moody also tells you what happened to a lot of them. I think that moment in the book is very sad, and I imagined them all bustling about posing for a photo, without a care in the world ... it made me sad, but I thought I would write it anyway. I’d just like to thank the Harry Potter Lexicon, though, for their amazing research – I was able to type in the most minor of characters, and find everything there we know about them right there to work on. Anyway, thanks for reading, and (here it comes) please leave a review!