Prove Your Worth
Sweet Merlin, did Remus have a splitting headache. It wasn’t enough that the full moon was that night and it would be the first time in his life that he did not transform either at home or at school. That just couldn’t be enough to make him ill. No, there had to be about a dozen irate customers barging into the shop at twenty minute intervals, all impatiently demanding service at that very instant. Remus could swear that the people had this planned because he didn’t understand how such angry people could come into the bookstore on the same day, ranting that they did not receive the correct books. Not that he didn’t believe they wanted to read, but how could they get so mad at him because they had picked the wrong book? Remus had only rung up their purchases; it wasn’t as though he could mentally tell what they wanted. He hadn’t taken Divination for a reason.
His boss, Mr. Foster, was furious as well. A shipment of books written by a man named C.S. Lewis were due in today, by popular demand from a local primary school, and they had gotten lost somewhere in the storage room. That, of course, was Remus’s fault as well. Remus should have handpicked the exact spot the delivery man placed the box, which was clearly labeled so Remus didn’t understand why his boss couldn’t find it. He was sure the shipment was in the storage room and the man just wasn’t looking hard enough. The boxes were quite large, so Remus didn’t understand how Mr. Foster couldn’t find them.
“Lupin!” barked an angry voice from behind the check-out counter.
“Yes, sir?” Remus replied wearily after flinching violently at the man’s raised voice. He was in no mood to deal with his boss. Merlin, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep for the rest of his life.
“I’ve just looked again and I don’t see them.” Mr. Foster, a middle-aged man with coal black hair and a bushy moustache marched at him, a furious expression on his face.
Remus inhaled deeply, willing himself to remain calm. This annoying, infuriating man was in charge of his paycheck, he couldn’t lose his temper. “Sir, the man put the boxes right when you walk into the storage room. I doubt they walked away on their own. They should be there.” He was so close to losing his temper, it wasn’t funny. He was sick, he was tired; he just wanted to go home.
“I’ve looked ten times, I have not found them.”
Obviously you’re not looking hard enough, Remus thought bitterly to himself, his hands clenching on the counter. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say that out loud. He was lucky to have this position at all. Mr. Foster hadn’t taken well to an applicant who couldn’t even pronounce the name of his school. (Remus had made up a fancy, foreign-sounding school. He couldn’t very well say he attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry). “Would you like me to go look for them?”
“That’s what I’m paying you for, isn’t it?”
Remus bit back the retort he so wanted to utter and disappeared into the back room. When he returned, he was staggering under the weight of two heavy boxes. Dear Merlin, this was not good for him. He almost laughed as he imagined the look on his mother’s face if she saw him straining himself on the day of a full moon. But he couldn’t show any of this to his boss… He couldn’t raise suspicions. The man may be a Muggle, but there were dozens of other reasons Remus could be ill to a Muggle.
“They were precisely where I said they were,” he commented airily, in a tone that suggested he didn’t care when he really did.
Mr. Foster looked neither thrilled nor relieved by this. “Good, could you go shelve them now?”
Remus breathed out slowly through his clenched teeth. “I would love nothing more.”
He had to get out of here. He checked his watch and saw he still had another hour to go before he was let off and he was certain he couldn’t make it. He was also certain that Mr. Foster wouldn’t let him go until all of the books were placed on the shelves. This would have been done a long time ago if the man had learned how to use his eyes. No one knew how close Remus was to banging his head repeatedly against the shelves in the vain hope that maybe he would get to go home if he did it enough. Unfortunately, he would have no such luck.
“Excuse me, sir, do you happen to have the book ‘Little Sammy Ate His Mummy’?”
Sweet, sweet Merlin, who the bloody hell was this person asking for that ridiculous book that Remus was sure didn’t exist? “What?” he snapped, whipping around to see that it was Sirius standing behind him with a wide smirk on his face.
“You don’t want to talk to customers like that, Remus. It’s bad for business.” Sirius’s grin turned into a frown when he saw the exhausted look on his friend’s face. He quickly grew serious. “Aren’t you getting off soon? You really should come home.”
“Unless you’ve come to spring me, please don’t mention home until I can actually leave.” He slid another book into its place on the shelf and went to get another, only to see that Sirius was one step ahead of him. “Thanks,” he said as he placed it beside the first book. “And I can’t leave until I finish this.” He nodded at the two boxes that he needed to shelve. He was going to be here for the rest of his life.
Sirius suddenly turned stern. There was no way he was letting Remus stay here past the end of his shift. Not only was it bad for him, it was bad for everyone involved. “No, you’re leaving when you’re supposed to leave.”
“Sirius, he’s my boss and he’s been on my case all day. That’s just what I need, to leave before I finish my work. He’d cut my pay in half if I did that.”
“Remus, you get out late enough as it is. When seven o’ clock rolls around, you’re leaving, alright? You’re sick and you need to get home before your boss regrets not letting you leave at the right time.” He noticed Remus flinch at the mention of his boss regretting not letting him leave. “I didn’t mean it like that, mate. But you know I’m right. Do you want me to help you with this so it gets done?”
Under normal circumstances, Remus would have said no. All he needed was for Mr. Foster to see his friend doing his work. But these weren’t normal circumstances and he really did need to get home before the full moon came out. He nodded. “If you see my boss, stop doing anything. I don’t want to hear him.”
“Of course,” Sirius said cheerfully, grabbing a stack of the books and placing them in their appropriate places. With Sirius there, they finished in half the time then they would have if Remus had been doing it on his own.
Just as Remus was placing the last book onto the shelf, there was the sound of an irritated throat clearing. “Are you finished yet?”
Remus looked around to see Mr. Foster watching him expectantly. “Yes, sir.”
“Hullo, Mr. Foster!” Sirius said in that same cheerful voice. He had come into work several times since Remus had started working in the store and Mr. Foster expected to see him now when closing time came.
“Sirius,” Mr. Foster replied coolly. He returned his attention to his employee. “I suppose you’ll be going then?”
“Unless you need me to do anything-”
“He’s leaving,” Sirius cut in quickly, shooting Remus a warning look. If Remus gave Mr. Foster an inch, he would take that, not to mention a few more.
Remus shot Sirius an irritated glance, but nodded. “I’m really not feeling well, sir,” he admitted.
Mr. Foster inspected him for a moment before consenting. “Good, go and get some sleep. I expect to see you in the morning.”
“I’ll see how I’m feeling,” Remus replied calmly before turning with Sirius and leaving. There was no bloody way he was coming to work tomorrow.
It was late in the morning when Remus’s weary eyes opened. He half expected to see the familiar decrepit ceiling of the Shrieking Shack above him or else the clean wooden ceiling of his bedroom at his parents’ house. What he saw instead was the white ceiling of his bedroom in Sirius’s flat. For a moment, he wondered why he would be there and not at home or at school. Then he remembered that this was where he lived. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t going to come to bring him back to the Hospital Wing anymore and his mother wouldn’t be appearing any time soon. Well… maybe she would. He wouldn’t be surprised if she burst down the front door and ran over Sirius to check on him.
She could be rather pushy when she wanted to be.
It was then that he wondered how he ended up in his bed in the first place. The night before he and Sirius had gone to the woods and that was the last thing he remembered. If he expected to wake up anywhere, it would have been in those woods. Did Sirius honestly drag him back here? Well, he could have Apparated, considering what time it was and if their landlady was around or awake. Remus tried to sit up, but slumped back against his pillow when he felt a searing pain in his lower back. No, there was no way he was going to work today. Mr. Foster had seen him the night before; he could barely stand up on his own.
Remus glanced up when there was a knock on the door. Sirius was standing in the open doorway, a box of cereal in his hand, idly taking a handful and munching on it. “’Ow are ‘oo feelin’?” Swallowing with great difficulty, he repeated himself, “Sorry. How are you feeling?”
“Fine,” Remus replied, choosing to ignore the doubtful look on his friend’s face. “Just tired…”
“Oh, you, err, you kind of fell last night, on your back, so if that’s hurting, that’d be why.” Sirius shook the box he was holding, peering through the cardboard flaps to see how much cereal was left. Taking out another handful, he chewed thoughtfully on it before grimacing. “Your lovely boss called, by the way.”
Judging from the way Sirius said it, his boss was not in a good mood. Well, that was the surprise of the century. “What did he want?” As if Remus didn’t already know.
“Wanted to know, and I’m going to directly quote this, ‘where the bloody hell Lupin is’. He really is a very nice man and his wife hasn’t divorced him yet?”
Remus chuckled and rolled his eyes, choosing not to answer Sirius’s last question. “Did you tell him I was busy prancing around the forest in wolf form last night, so I’m too tired to go in today?”
Sirius laughed. “Yes, I did. He wasn’t pleased.” Tossing another handful of cereal into his mouth, he chewed slowly on it before swallowing and adding, “Seriously, mate, that man has it in for you. I think if he had it his way, you’d be hanging by your toes in the stockroom for not coming in.” There was a sudden knock at the door and Sirius excused himself to see who it was. Remus could hear Sirius’s laughs as he greeted the caller. “Remus, you have a visitor!”
Remus rolled his eyes. He should have known his mother would show up eventually.
“I guess this is what they meant when they said we have to prove ourselves,” Sirius muttered grimly as he hid behind a decrepit building in Knockturn Alley with James, Remus, Peter and Lily, all of whom nodded. Several members of the Order of the Phoenix were across the street, peering out from behind another building, though they made sure to avoid contact with the new recruits. That was important “ to pretend they didn’t know each other. This group included Benjy Fenwick, Marlene McKinnon, Dorcas Meadows and Elphias Doge. They had been called here to Knockturn Alley due to suspected Death Eater activity, yet they had seen nothing to indicate that there was any yet.
“We have to stand behind a building all day?” Peter said bitterly under his breath. He didn’t want to stand here all day. If he had to do this, he would like to actually do something. He didn’t want to do this at all, but how would he ever explain that to his friends? So he went along with this ridiculous plan.
“What was that, Wormtail?” James asked curiously, not having heard him properly.
“Nothing, Prongs.”
“Where did you four get those nicknames?” Lily asked suddenly, glancing from Peter to James, or from Wormtail to Prongs. She had heard them use those names multiple times before and the only one that made any sense to her was Remus’s. They called him Moony and she knew why they did. He was a werewolf, for Merlin’s sake.
“Now is not the time to go into that, Lily,” James assured her quickly, lightly squeezing her shoulder. The last thing they needed right now was to explain to Lily that their nicknames came from their Animagi forms. She would either be too amazed to focus on their task at hand or she would flat out murder him, Sirius and Peter for performing illegal magical activity. He watched the dark street intently, looking for any sign that there would be trouble. This was Knockturn Alley, though, there was always trouble occurring somewhere. Now they just had to distinguish the typical trouble from the Death Eater trouble. “Come on, guys,” he said lowly as he saw Dorcas signal to return to Diagon Alley. She pulled at her left earlobe, a simple, unassuming sign that they had agreed on before they left earlier.
They travelled in separate groups, so as to not look suspicious. It would look odd if a group of nine people were walking together in Knockturn Alley of all places. That was basically begging to be hexed, or killed, two things they were sorely trying to avoid. They pulled the hoods of their cloaks over their heads and walked as inconspicuously down the alley as they could. Their heads were down, some bent towards another as if they were in conversation. It was going well for a while. No one paid them any attention, which was exactly how they wanted it. It was only when they reached Diagon Alley where things went horribly wrong.
It started with a shout from Marlene. The group, upon hearing this, whirled around to see someone had grabbed her around the neck, refusing to let go. It was a man wearing a mask, preventing any from seeing his identity. Benjy, Dorcas and Elphias all had their wands out as once and, only seconds later, so did James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily, completely forgetting that they were supposed to pretend they weren’t with the group Marlene had been in. The man who had grabbed Marlene laughed cruelly at this as several masked figures joined him, all with their own wands drawn and looking far more dangerous.
“Yes,” Sirius hissed under his breath, tightening his grip on his wand. “This is definitely where we prove ourselves.”
The first Death Eater shot a spell at Dorcas, who expertly sent it back to the man and he shouted as some short of shock coursed through him. The woman looked unassuming, but she could send a powerful spell. The Death Eater who had his grip on Marlene kept his wand at her throat, as if he was daring anyone to hex him. As tempting as the thought was to cause the man physical pain, it couldn’t be risked for fear of hurting Marlene, or much worse. But the Death Eater didn’t seem intent on letting her go and so they would have to work around this. If they couldn’t directly attack him, they would have to find some other way of freeing Marlene, without hurting her in the process.
The boys and Lily stood frozen, their wands extended, but unsure of what to do. This was where they had to prove that it hadn’t been a mistake to allow them into the Order and yet they couldn’t think of what to do. Dumbledore had vouched for them, had said they were the most talented students he had seen in a long time, and yet they were failing him. They couldn’t even think of a single hexed because they were, to be honest, scared. The others had already sent hexes towards the Death Eaters, fully aware of what they had to do to get out of this and save Marlene. It was only when a narrow jet of red light grazed Remus’s shoulder, tearing the sleeve of his robes but leaving no sign of harm, that they snapped into it.
“Get them from behind,” James said suddenly.
“What?” Peter asked, his wand arm shaking ever so slightly, though the others did not notice this. What the bloody hell was James talking about? Who was he trying to get from behind?
“If we get the guy from behind, there’s less of a chance we’ll hit Marlene and he won’t see us coming. If he doesn’t see us coming, he can’t hurt her because of that. That’s what’s important right now, isn’t it? Making sure Marlene doesn’t get hurt.”
“Yeah, but aren’t they’re going to notice five people coming at him from behind?” Peter countered, nodding at the Death Eaters. If James thought that was going to work, Peter failed to see how he’d done so well in school. His plan was mental and James should know that.
James, however, had a plan for that, as well. “Which is why we distract the others so one of us can get to the one we need to hit.” He eyed the Death Eaters warily; they were not wasting their time attacking Benjy, Dorcas and Elphias. But their fellow Order members were putting up a good fight. They still needed assistance. “Remus, go and help out Benjy. Lily, Peter, go with Dorcas. Sirius, help out Elphias.”
“You’re going to get the one with Marlene?” Sirius asked, eyeing the Death Eater who, though they could not see his face, seemed to be enjoying his moment. The way his head was moving slowly, it appeared that he was surveying the fight.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to help,” James replied simply, waiting for his friends to disperse and help fight the Death Eaters. They didn’t hesitate to join the others. The numbers may be uneven, but the Order had been caught unawares. They had every right to outnumber the Death Eaters for once. Numbers didn’t matter right now anyway, just who got out of this with all their body parts intact. James drifted into the background as his friends helped the rest of the Order, waiting for the Death Eaters to be thoroughly distracted before he attempted anything to get the Death Eater with Marlene.
It would be all he needed “ for a Death Eater to go after him because he’d been spotted trying to attack him from behind.
The chaos that had been started was bringing up curious shoppers from both Diagon and Knockturn Alley “ something the Order did not need nor want. They couldn’t risk having a group of innocent bystanders get hurt, or worse, because of their own curiosity and wayward spells. There were shouts for the bystanders to leave and only after a bright green jet of light narrowly missed a woman and her son did the shoppers take heed and disperse. With the crowd gone, the hexes seemed to get worse.
“Is this what it’s always like?” Remus asked Benjy before whipping his wand from the left to right, deflecting a spell sent his way.
“A bit,” Benjy replied before shooting a jet of blue light towards the masked figure they were fighting and ducking as a wayward spell shot from the Death Eater Lily and Peter were fighting was sent their way. “This is actually rather tame.”
Remus had to force his mouth from dropping open. If this was tame, he didn’t want to know what a wild fight would be like.
Knockturn Alley was filled with the sounds of bangs and bright, shining lights illuminating the usually darkened alleyway as the battle continued. James was intent on reaching his target, but had to fend off some Death Eaters who had noticed he was having it far too easy. But he finally was able to reach his target and, for once proud of his skill at casting silent spells, thought firmly Stupefy and the Death Eater with his arm in a choke-hold around Marlene’s neck collapsed to the ground. James instantly ran forward and helped free her from under the man’s limp body.
“Are you alright?” James asked, his eyes scanning the woman for any injury he might not have seen done.
“Yes, I’m fine,” she replied, taking James’s offered hand and getting to her feet. With a determined grin, she added, “Let’s help the others get rid of these menaces, shall we?”
“I feel like someone did a dance on my back.”
“Well, you could’ve taken down the Death Eater without bringing him down with you, Sirius.”
“But that wouldn’t have been any fun, James!”
“But its loads of fun having a man who was easily over two hundred pounds land on your back? I’m surprised he didn’t break your spine in half.”
“Stuff it, Remus. And, might I say, that black eye of yours looks lovely.”
Remus rolled his eyes, but self-consciously turned so his steadily blackening eye was hidden from Sirius’s view. He and Benjy had fought a ruthless Death Eater who had resorted to Muggle dueling once he’d been disarmed by Remus. Remus didn’t take well to having fists connecting with his face and the Death Eater had been left with his legs wrapped around his head and a nice bunch of hair growing out of his nostrils, courtesy of Benjy. Normally, Remus might feel bad about doing that, but no one was going to punch him in the face and get away with that. He hoped the man had fun untangling himself.
James, Sirius, Peter, Remus, Lily and the rest of the Order members they had ventured to Knockturn Alley with were now settled in the front room of Dorcas Meadows’ house. The curtains were drawn and all possible entrances locked and warded. They didn’t need any sudden surprises. Each one of them was sporting some sort of injury from the battle. From Remus’s black eye, to Sirius lying on the sofa with his feet up to ease the pain in his back, to Benjy’s bloody nose, their injuries were mild, but there. Dumbledore and Moody were in the next room, their conversation swift and urgent from the sounds of their voices, though no one knew what they were saying.
James, who had a cut trailing along his right cheek, which was stained with dried blood, sat up in his seat on the floor beside Lily, who was sporting a cut across her forehead. “So,” he began, looking at the four Order members expectantly, “Does this mean we’ve proven our worth? Does this mean you trust us now?”
Remus and Sirius simultaneously rolled their eyes at James’s blunt question, though they could not deny that they were eager to find out the same. The Order had been so insistent on only fully welcoming them until they had proven that they wouldn’t run in the face of danger, would fight with everything they had for people they barely knew against what was possibly the biggest threat the Wizarding world had ever faced. This may have been their first real encounter with Death Eaters (that is, if they were excluding their encounter in the Forbidden Forest when they were thirteen), but they did not run. They stood their ground and fought alongside their comrades and had emerged victorious.
They couldn’t think of what else to do to earn their trust if they hadn’t done it that day.
“You’ve proven you’re good fighters and that you’re very smart,” Marlene admitted, rubbing a hand along the side of her neck. The man had left a nasty bruise there before James had finally freed her.
“And…?” James’s eyebrows rose. He already knew they were all good fighters. Their grades in school and Dumbledore’s word could have told them that they were intelligent. What they needed to know was whether or not they would be trusted. Nothing else mattered except for that. If the Order didn’t trust them, they wouldn’t last very long here.
Marlene exchanged glances with Benjy, Elphias and Dorcas, all of whom had the same looks on their faces and nodded without hesitation. “You’ve proven you can be trusted. Allow me to be the first one to tell you “ welcome to the Order of the Phoenix.”