Since it was our first ever meeting, we kind of just stood there and let the older members do the talking.

Sometime during the meeting, somebody had conjured a desk, and it hadn't taken long until it was buried beneath parchment.

I was surprised by how much information the order members had already, just by observing and spying.

Seeing them so active really motivated me that this war could actually be over soon.

My friends and I just watched when all of the wizards talked about Death Eater meetings, Voldemort's possible hiding places and suspected plans for the future.

When new patrols had been assigned and the date for the next meeting had been arranged, the room cleared out.

But since Professor Dumbledore had asked all of us new members to stay behind, now we just waited for him to talk.

We didn't have to wait long. Daedalus Diggle hadn't even left the room yet when Dumbledore already walked towards us.

"Again, I'm happy that all of you are brave enough to join this order. Thank you."

"Thanks for asking us to join," James replied politely. "It's an honour."

Wow James. That's one way to butter Dumbledore up. He did realise that we were out of school, right?

"James, you do realise that we're not at school anymore, right? You don't have to crawl," Marlene asked him with a mocking smirk on her elegant face, and my jaw dropped.

I immediately closed it again, but still - she'd taken the words right out of my mouth! How creepy had that been?! Could she read minds??

I mentally facepalmed. Of course she couldn't, the others at Hogwarts would've noticed that immediately. And she and Sirius would've gotten together much sooner, because she would've known about his feelings for her from the start.

And she wouldn't be so nice to me, considering she'd know that I was in love with her boyfriend.

Yeah, no, Marlene couldn't read minds- but it was still crazy that she'd said almost exactly what I'd thought.

"Shut up, Marls," James mumbled. "I'm just really happy that I'm able to help wherever I can."

"That's true," Lily agreed, nodding. "The more stand up against that maniac, the better."

Dumbledore nodded. The usual glint in his blue eyes wasn't visible. "And I absolutely agree with that, Miss Evans. But in order for this to be as safe as possible, I need to teach you something."

Sirius sighed, and I suppressed a grin. It was very obvious what he was thinking. 'I thought I was done with school', or something along these lines.

"Oh, Mr Black, I think that you might actually find this really interesting," Dumbledore agreed with a small smile, which was barely visible beneath his beard. The sparkle in his eyes had returned. "I suppose you're all familiar with the Patronus Charm?"

We nodded collectively. While we'd never practiced the actual spell, we had still talked about its use and how it worked with Professor Nostar.

"Very well. Though I assume you've never tried it, have you?"

Now we shook our heads, and somebody murmured a quiet 'no'.

Dumbledore nodded again. "I want you to learn it. While we might not face Dementors on our search for Death Eaters, it is an essential way of communication for the order. It can't be intercepted, you see? It's much safer and quicker than letters."

"But isn't it just a protection charm?" Lily asked curiously. "How is it supposed to work for communication purposes?"

"The conjured corporeal Patronus can be sent to a certain person or location, and speak whatever it's been told to say," Dumbledore explained.

"In order for this to work, however, one has to be able to produce a corporeal Patronus, that's essential. Making the Patronus speak is very easy, in comparison to the actual spell."

"I see," Remus looked as little lost in his thoughts. His left hand was on his chin. "So you want us to practice producing Patroni. That's it?"

Dumbledore nodded. "For now. Once you are done with that, I'll explain the rest."

"How long do we have time to practice?" I asked, a little worried. The Patronus Charm was one of the most difficult and powerful spells there was. If we managed to cast it at all, it would take a lot of time to practice.

Dumbledore's smile deepened when he looked at me and tilted his head forward, as if he were telling us a secret. "Miss Tygris, you might have forgotten that this is not a school lesson. It is something you have to be able to do, not because you will get a grade on it, but because you're going to need it, so it doesn't matter how long it might take. It's up to you and how soon you can produce a Patronus. Pressuring yourself won't help."

That helped calm my nerves and I nodded. "Okay."

Dumbledore leant back again. "You all know how to do the spell?"

We nodded. We had only not tried it at school because there hadn't been enough time.

"Very well. Then you will be able to practice by yourself."

There was a nagging thought in the back of my mind, but I tried to ignore it and not ask out loud.

What if I'll never be able to produce a Patronus?

"Now," Professor Dumbledore interrupted my train of thoughts. "That is all from my side. I'll see you all in the next meeting. You might use the door on the way out and disapparate then, because the protective charms have been recasted."

With that, he waved cheerily and left the room, leaving the rest of us baffled and looking at one another.

"I've always wanted to produce a Patronus!" Alice spoke up, an excited glint in her eyes. Dorcas nodded with a massive grin on her face. "This is gonna be so cool."

"Will we practice together? Or will we all go home and practice for ourselves?" Sirius asked, and James shrugged.

"You're all welcome at me place anytime. It's up to you all. But I'd suggest that we'll do that tomorrow, it's pretty late already, and I suppose we'll take quite long."

"That's fine," Remus said. "I'll come by tomorrow noon."

"Me too," Lily said, and Marlene quickly agreed as well.

"We'll come too, thanks James," Frank said, before Peter and Dorcas invited themselves along, too.

I pondered about it for a second, but then decided to do it with them. As scared as I was of failing in front of all of them, maybe it would help me if I saw how others did it.

"I'll come, too," I said.

"That's settled, then." James nodded. "I'll see you all tomorrow. Bye."

There was a chorus of several 'byes' and all of us exited the house.

We stood on a green field, and I could make out the city a few miles away. Noone except us was here, so one after the other, everyone disapparated away.

Just when I was about to do the same, Peter stopped me.

"Freya, can I talk to you for a second?"

I stopped in my tracks. Now only Peter and I were left. I was a little confused as to what he wanted, but agreed. "Sure. What is it?"

I saw him gulp before he slowly began walking through the field. I followed, and we were strolling around.

Peter took a deep breath. "I'm really relieved that you've decided to join as well."

I tried to hide my surprise. "You are? Why?"

"I-", he fiddled with his hands before looking around. Then he looked at me and started over. "I'm scared," he almost whispered.

My lips tugged. "I'd be worried if you weren't."

"That's the point!" Peter said forcefully. "James and the others, they don't seem to be worried or scared at all! They didn't hesitate when Dumbledore asked us if we wanted to join. When I brought up the danger of it all, they just shrugged. I'm scared, and that makes me feel like such a coward.... I'm glad that you're here because I think you might be the only one who understands what I mean." He looked at me with desperate and embarrassed eyes.

This whole thing didn't seem too far fetched to me. All of the marauders, and all Gryffindors in my year had always been very determined and brave (sometimes to a stupid extent), a feature that Peter didn't have.

He'd always been rather shy and careful and indecisive. The hat had taken the longest to decide Peter's house, I remembered that.

All Gryffindors always stood their ground, but Peter didn't. And I could relate to that very well. I could tell that Peter didn't dare to tell the others that he was scared, because it made him feel as if he didn't belong.

I wasn't a Gryffindor. I had always been the shy, quiet Ravenclaw with an open ear for everyone, when someone actually wanted to talk to me. Peter seemed to think that, because I hadn't been a Gryffindor, I'd know what it feels like to be afraid.

"I do understand," I said quietly. "And you don't have to feel bad about it. I know that the others are scared, too. I don't think anybody with a sane mind doesn't fear a war."

"But they don't!" Peter insisted.

I shook my head. "They do. We all do, we're all in the same boat, Peter. The thing is that James and the others ignore their fears. Bravery isn't a character trait you just have, you know? Bravery is plainly the determination to not let fear affect your decisions.

You can have fears, it's only natural. You should have fears, actually. But you should never let fear be the reason for your actions.

In my eyes, true bravery is nothing more than overcoming fear. Bravery is accepting and living with fears.

So, you don't have to feel like a coward just because you're scared, Peter. The bravest person on earth is scared of something, but that doesn't make them a coward.

You've decided to fight in this war and face your fears, Peter, and that makes you braver than a lot of other people."

Peter stared at me, and I tried my best not to blush. I didn't know where that had come from, but it was truly how I felt.

Hell, I was scared. On top of that, I almost constantly lived under the effects of cheering charms, because I couldn't bully my head into being cheery and happy. I was annoyingly sensitive. But I still considered myself brave, because I'd decided to do what's right, despite being scared.

I felt really awkward when Peter didn't reply; he just looked at me with a strange look in his eyes. Then he swallowed, before opening his mouth.

"Thanks. I really needed to hear that."

I let out a relieved breath at his answer and smiled. So he didn't think I was mental. "Anytime, Peter. You know, if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

He smiled slightly. "I'll get back to it. Again, thank you, Freya."

I nodded. "Of course. I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Yeah. Goodbye."

With that, he disapparated, and I did the same.