"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single Auror in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife" Remus Lupin quoted dryly.

James Potter didn't hear him. He was too busy ranting.

"- and if that wasn't bad enough, guess what the hag did next?" He continued without pausing to let Remus guess what the old hag did next "she offered me a bloody cleansweep! She tried to bribe me into taking out her troll of a granddaughter. Do I look like a sodding male escort to you? Do I look like I need to whore myself out to stuffy spoilt brats? As if I'd even want a cleanswe –"

Remus tuned his friend back out, and returned to reading the paper. He'd almost reached the end when James caught his attention with a yell.

"Oy! You could at least pretend to listen to me!" Remus was relieved to hear the slight note of amusement in his friend's voice. James Potter was very nearly always in good humour, but when his bad moods did strike, he could be unbearably unreasonable.

"You're right, I was being inconsiderate. Please do tell me more about all the women who want to date you, and how difficult it is" Remus replied. The sentence would have seemed bitter, if it wasn't said with such flippant cheer.

James's scowl briefly lessened. He was about to reply when Remus jumped up.

"Oh damn" he cursed, "I'm late for the Order training session - Are you coming James?"

"Do I have to?" James groaned.

Remus shrugged, "I'm not your mum"

"I already know how to fight, I don't need training" James complained.

"Then don't go"

"I get enough of all that at work"

"No one's making you go to the Order meeting James" Remus said patiently.

James was silent for a long moment, and then he sighed loudly and stood "I'm coming" he grumbled.

Lily had been counting down the minutes to the Order of the Phoenix training session all day.

It was her first training session with the Order. She had heard rumours regarding Dumbledore's secret organisation for years. Accounts of the order's power, members and actions varied so much, the group had taken on a mythic quality in Lily's imagination. She'd almost asked Dumbledore if he was pranking her when he turned up at her tiny flat and asked her to join. But the question would've felt a bit daft after his grave warnings of the mortal danger she'd be placing herself in if she signed up. So instead she had politely told him she'd be delighted to help any way she could, and he went on to explain that she would begin by attending training sessions led by Mad Eye Moody.

Lily willed herself to feel sombre and purposeful as she arrived at the abandoned church where the meeting would take place. But really, she just felt excited. She was finally gaining entry into Dumbledore's inner and most trusted circle. She was finally going to do something useful in the resistance against Voldemort.

She had arrived 10 minutes early, and found only Mad Eye Moody, who was circling the large hall, carefully checking for any sign of tampering. Moody introduced himself gruffly, and then informed her that most members arrive about 15 minutes after the start time, and the real start time was always half an hour after the agreed upon time.

Any embarrassment Lily may have felt from the gaffe was forgotten when the other members started arriving and introducing themselves. Like Moody, a lot of them were well-known figures in wizarding society. There was the famous Auror couple the Longbottoms, the Prewitt Brothers who were beaters for Puddlemere United, and Edgar Bones, who Lily recognised as a rather senior Ministry Official, although she couldn't quite remember which department he worked for. There were some younger faces that she recognised from Hogwarts as well, such as Sirius Black – a popular prankster two years older than her, who arrived on a loud flying motorcycle, and, to Lily's happy surprise, her Ravenclaw high school friend Marlene McKinnon walked in just on half-past with her boyfriend Caradoc Dearborn.

'Is this why you've been so elusive lately?' Lily teased after the friends had greeted one another.

'Oh no, that's just run of the mill exhaustion. This is only my third meeting. You've only just joined then?' Marlene asked a little breathlessly.

'Dumbledore only invited me yesterday' Lily admitted.

Moody then called for everyone's attention. The room quickly became quiet as Moody briefly introduced Lily to the group, and then began explaining the spells that they would be practising. Half way through Moody's explanation, two more familiar figures entered the hall. With an unpleasant jolt, Lily recognised James Potter and his friend Remus Lupin as they quietly joined Black just ahead of her. Lily watched as Potter returned Black's welcoming grin with a scowl.

Lily jumped as Moody interrupted her thoughts with a yell to pair up. As Marlene wandered off with her boyfriend to begin practising, Lily looked around uncomfortably for a partner, avoiding the area where the three boys were standing. But everyone else had quickly partnered off, and so she turned towards the boys with resignation to find them bickering amongst themselves.

"I can't believe it, I've had an absolutely rubbish day today, and now the two of you are trying to fob me off onto some twit" Potter was whining.

"Oh come off it Prongs" Black laughed, "One of us always partners with you. Go find someone else to beat for a change"

"You know I hate practising with people I don't know. It's sodding insufferable. The Prewitts are partnered together, Moody's supervising, and Vance hasn't shown up – there's no one else I want to pair with"

"You are so bloody picky!" cried Black, "Merlin Prongs, it's the Order of the Phoenix, I'm sure everyone here is capable enough"

"You two are the only decent fighters in the room," said Potter, glaring at his friends stubbornly.

"We are pretty good" Black acknowledged, with a grin "But what about that red head girl?" He suggested, tilting his head towards Lily. "She seems alright"

Potter turned around and glanced at Lily before quickly turning back to his friends. "Yeah, whatever, she seems fine. But she's not nearly good enough to tempt me. I am not in the mood tonight to teach the new girl basic duelling techniques. You are completely wasting your ti-"

"Okay, okay" Lupin interrupted hurriedly, aware that they were easily within earshot of the aforementioned girl. "I'll go and you two can be partners", he said, already walking away.

"tut tut Moony" Black joked to his friend's retreating back "if you give him what he wants all the time he'll never stop throwing tantrums".

Lupin ignored him as he had just reached Lily and was introducing himself with an apologetic smile.

Lily quickly buried her humiliation and offered a friendly smile in return.

The rest of the meeting sped by quickly as they worked on the exercises Moody had outlined. Altogether, the meeting passed off rather well – She was pleased to find that she didn't embarrass herself during the practice duels, and by the end of the night her spell-work was markedly faster and stronger. Remus Lupin was an exceptional partner – he was so infallibly calm and good humoured, that Lily couldn't help liking him despite his choice of friends.

"So I'm rather grateful that James Potter was a rude prick and refused to partner with me" Lily cheerfully told Marlene when they caught up for coffee the next day to discuss the meeting. "He would have been a nightmare - no wonder his friends were trying to fob him off onto me".

AN: So it's the first time I've tried anything like this. Let me know what you think.