This may in fact be my shortest fic yet. It's a future fic (more or less), written after I read 'Order of the Phoenix' and detailing the lives of the Order of the Phoenix after the events of... well... 'Order of the Phoenix'.

Spoiler Warning: Spoilers for 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix', and some earlier Harry Potter books.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all the rest of them are property of JK Rowling, and that's just how it should be.

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I was never a member of the Order of the Phoenix. There are days when I am supremely glad of this, because the remnants of the Order are an unfortunate group of people. Early in the war, an attack was launched by the Death Eaters - I still don't understand precisely how - and the Order of the Phoenix was wiped out in one fell swoop. Mr and Mrs Weasley were both killed, and suddenly the job of looking after the rest of the family fell to Bill, the oldest survivor. Mad-Eye Moody apparently put up a good fight, but after all these years of constant vigilance, he was finally overwhelmed by the figures in his foe-glass. Mundungus Fletcher somehow managed to survive, though lives now as a werewolf, having been bitten by a rampaging and uncontrollable Remus Lupin. Moony himself was eventually put down by Kingsley Shacklebolt, who may have been under the influence of the Imperius curse. When Shacklebolt managed to regain control of his body, he was swarmed and kissed by the Dementors, who had defected to Voldemort's side. We still have his body.

Snape lives on, but he is now a shadow of the man he once was. Not trusted enough by Voldemort or the other Death Eaters, he had not known of the attack beforehand and was unable to prevent it. He had watched helplessly as his comrades - I hesitate to say friends, though perhaps they were his friends too - were destroyed one by one. Sometimes, when I try particularly hard, he will rebuke me or insult me, but he has lost his old venom.

McGonagall and a few others survived the initial raid. Exhausted and depleted of their magic, they were living of borrowed time. She was ambushed in the streets outside the Order's headquarters, and torn apart by any number of unmentionable things. Tonks, the most innocent of them all, currently resides at St Mungo's, having been brutally and repeatedly abused, physically and mentally. She screams at night, the healers tell me, but rarely does anything else. Her bed is opposite those of Mr and Mrs Longbottom, some of the last members of the original Order.

Dumbledore continues to work as Headmaster at Hogwarts, though he very rarely makes public appearances any more. His eyes have lost their familiar old twinkle, and his charming insanity has evaporated away. All he has left - the product of his shattered world - is the vengeful fire, drawing sustenance from a fuel as eternal as his companion, Fawkes. He was absent when the invasion took place, tricked so completely that, to him, forgiveness is unthinkable. I forgave him long ago, but he will never forgive himself. His mission never altered, and he continues to fight the Dark Wizards. I believe that Voldemort is more terrified of him than ever. And despite his unwavering obsession, he can still drive people. And that is why I continue to fight as well.

I was never a member of the Order of the Phoenix. But I am now, and ever shall be, a member of Dumbledore's Army.