A/N: Inspired by and entered in Ashy's Dream Challenge with the prompt 'Parking Meter' - To see a parking meter in your dream indicates that your leisurely and carefree days are soon coming to an end. You need to decide on a goal and what you want to do with your life before your time runs out.
Written for Round 11 of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition (Seeker, Ballycastle Bats), A Jury of your Peers Competition (family) and The Mood Ring Competition (character Lily, colour: Bright red (energetic, happy)
The Intervention
The audience raised glasses and the graduates tossed hats as the class of 2019 at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry marked the end of their magical schooling.
Among the rows and rows of recent graduates stood Lily Luna Potter smiling dreamily while the rest of her family and friends chattered away boisterously, already finalising their plans post graduation.
Albus was the first to get to his little sister. He'd apparated immediately from St Mungo's and smelt of dragon salve and antiseptic and an infusion of other flavours that had become so characteristic of him in the past two years that he'd been working as an intern at the wizarding hospital.
"Lily, congratulations!" He caught his little sister in a tight embrace and kissed her cheeks lightly. "I'm so proud of you." He beamed at his little sister, who smiled back at him.
"Oh, thank you so much, Albus! How's it at the hospital for you, and when is it that you officially become a Healer?" He was to be promoted to a full-time healer within a few months and his excitement knew no bounds.
"In September or October at the latest. To be honest, we've been receiving so many accident cases lately what with wizards experimenting in excess with the oddest of potions and spells that the Healers I work under haven't had the chance to complete my evaluation report."
"You're actually evaluated? Even at work?" Her eyes grew wide with wonder. Lily had always believed that the world of reports and essays and tests came to an end along with school life. Clearly, she had been mistaken.
"I'm not just evaluated, I have a series of exams to pass before I'm a certified healer. Medicine is a serious profession, young lady." His eyes twinkled and he grabbed her hand, leading her away from the stage where they were one of the very few stragglers.
"Now come on! The rest of the family is waiting. Where's Hugo, by the way?" Albus walked briskly towards the large tables set up by the Quidditch pitch. They were laden with delicacies in all shapes, sizes and colours, and there were easily hundreds of people milling about.
"I think I saw him go towards Mr Malfoy - he was here with Scorpius and I'm pretty sure Rose is with him."
Albus grinned. "Let's go and get the lovebirds, shall we?"
"Rose, I'm really going to miss you, do you know that?" Lily moped as her cousin neatly folded her clothes into her large blue suitcase.
Rose paused in her folding and looked over to where her cousin stood by the bed and her heart sank.
The two had been sharing an apartment in London for the past two years; they had moved in a month after Lily's graduation. It had become their little crib, a home away from home that both girls got way too attached to and now Rose was finally leaving all the way to Scotland because she'd landed her dream job as a children's novelist. So, maybe Scotland wasn't the farthest distance to travel and it would take her hardly a minute to apparate to visit her cousin, but Lily was still sulky.
"Promise me you'll write every day," the younger girl demanded suddenly and Rose laughed. Out of all her cousins, she knew that Lily was the only one who had written to both her parents with exceeding regularity and generally included detailed drawings and paintings in her letters. Nothing annoyed Lily more than a person who didn't respond to her loving letters.
Rose walked over to Lily and hugged her close. "It's going to be crazy for me out there, but I promise to send a letter every fortnight at the very least, okay?"
Lily pulled away then and glowered at Rose. "Fortnight? I'm expecting a letter a week and I better find your silly owl waiting for me with a hefty parchment in his beak, you hear me?" Rose laughed and raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. Don't blame me for sloppy handwriting!"
Her expression sobered up then as she was reminded of something disturbing.
"Lily," her eyes narrowed with annoyance. "You've been promising me about finalising your choice of job for over three months now! What have you even been doing all these days?" Rose had been so caught up with her applications and submissions that her cousin's predicament completely crossed her mind.
"This is why you shouldn't leave me," Lily quipped. But there was no mirth in Rose's eyes. "Lily. It's been two years since you graduated."
Lily didn't allow her to continue, raising a palm to ebb her cousin's rant. "I know, I know," she complained. But Rose wasn't that easily derailed. "I hate to leave you on your own this way, Lil, but you really need to get your act together, I love you and am worried for you!"
"It's not like I am not trying, Rose, I just don't know what I want to do yet!" Lily was frustrated with having to explain herself to countless concerned family members and her nerves were frayed.
"That precisely is the problem, Lil! Half your issues will be solved the minute you decide that you know what you want to do! You have scored brilliantly in all your examinations at school, I don't see another roadblock in your path. Except, you know, your own indecisiveness."
Lily let out a massive sigh and plonked onto her bed, dejected. Rose shut her suitcase forcefully and with the wave of her wand, parked it neatly beneath her bed.
Lily looked at her questioningly.
"Aren't your new bosses waiting for you to show up in..." She consulted her watch. "Right about now?"
Rose was already busy with a parchment and quill. Her face was set with determination and she scribbled furiously, the tip of her tongue sticking out with concentration.
"They can wait. I have something to sort out here, first."
"What happened?" Lily asked, but she had a feeling she already knew the answer.
"You did."
Lily sighed again.
"Shh, James, I called you here to help Lily and not to distract her more! Lucy, do you have those pamphlets ready? And the snippets from the Prophet? Fred, I beg of you - do anything but encourage Lil to join uncle George in his business. Al - where's Albus?" The fireplace came to life just then and Albus scampered out, dusting his coat as he did.
"Oh, here you are." Rose breathed a sigh of relief as she scrambled around the apartment.
"Molly, have you cast the charms that will prevent Lily from apparating?" Molly looked up from the gigantic textbook she was busy re-reading and nodded vigorously.
"Yes, and I've asked James to block the fireplace just as soon as Roxy gets here, so stop panicking, Rosie!" Rose smiled wistfully at the use of her elder cousin's fond nickname for her and calmed down a little.
Everything then happened all at once and all too suddenly.
The fireplace roared, revealing little Roxanne who walked into Rose's room yelling "Hey, guys!" The lock to the apartment simultaneously clicked open and James scrambled to block the fireplace. In his hurry he struck his knee sharply against the protruding bricks and howled.
"Owhh, Rose, your apartment is attacking me!"
Rose shushed him like a mother hen and dragged Albus with her as she made a mad dash for the stairs. "Rose, Lily can come up on her own!" Albus hissed as his cousin dragged him down the wooden staircase two at a time.
"She'll also do anything to bolt once she realises that this isn't a social get-together and it's up to us to comfort her!" Rose whispered back urgently. The girl had a valid point. "Or, you know, retrain her," Albus added, laughing.
"Lily!" Albus called out to his sister, who jumped in surprise. Her lips widened into a smile as she saw her elder brother walked towards her and ran upto him, hugging him close.
"Oof!" He nearly lost his breath but then lifted her up and she giggled.
"You still treat me like your baby sister, Al!" She complained playfully, swatting his arm away. He grinned. "You still act like that," he justified, and then he sobered down.
Lily peeked out from behind Albus' shoulder and felt dread settle in the pit of her stomach as she caught Rose's worried expression. "Um, what's happening, guys? I take it surprising me isn't quite on today's agenda."
"Surprising you?"
Lily smacked herself on the forehead. "Never mind. What's up?"
Albus led her up the stairs and Rose followed. "Oh, nothing much..."
Lily entered Rose's room to a scene that amused her more than the Christmas her uncle George 'accidentally' spiked everyone's eggnog. Her brother and cousins were all over the place, quarreling and convincing each other in multiple conversations with such earnest or fierce expressions that Lily almost burst out laughing.
"Do I want to know what's happening?" She asked no one in particular, but James was the first to spot her.
"Sister dear!" He roared warmly as he limped his way to her and Lily's eyes sparkled with humour. She couldn't remember the last time her brother had used a term of endearment to address her.
"Yes, James?" She asked patiently. But then her eyes widened as her cousin Molly walked over to her, hands full of sheets of paper of varying sizes and colours.
"Lily Luna Potter, we're all gathered here because we love you and really need to make sure that you're working soon." The girl never minced words and Lily looked on as Molly thrust the pile of pamphlets she was holding on to the bed and selected one that flashed the words "Be the first to tell the world what's happening! Join the Daily Prophet to be on the top of all things magic."
Lily crinkled her nose in distaste as Molly barrelled on. "You sure have a way with words, Lily, plus you're, you know, usually on the top of things..."
"Is that your way of calling me a gossip monger?" Lily asked wryly, but her eyes were already crinkling with laughter.
Molly blushed profusely. "You know that's not what I meant..."
The next hour flew in a whirlwind of career options and encouraging advice as her cousins rallied for their own professions and suggested ones they believed Lily would enjoy. Lily's lack of a concrete response had half of them tearing their hair out with frustration by the end of the hour. Molly and Roxanne had parched throats and Rose just decided to pause 'for refreshments'.
"So I have something to tell you all, and I'm actually really happy that Rose pulled this off for me," Lily began when the rest of her cousins were tired and slumped around the bed.
James raised his head in hope and Rose looked desperate for good news.
"I had a meeting with Jenna Clearwater this morning," she began.
She was greeted with blank faces. "Ms Penelope's adopted daughter, she was in James' class at Hogwarts?"
James eyes sparkled with recognition. "The thin one with long, long hair?"
Lily nodded. "Anyways," she continued. "Her mum's a designer and planner of cities. As most of you know, I've always loved drawing..." Her cousins burst out laughing at the memory of her rambling, art-filled letters.
"You're basically looking at the Clearwater's newest and youngest intern!" She finished breathlessly.
Every one cheered and nearly pounced on the sister they had almost given up on while Rose glowered.
"You found yourself a job and you didn't even tell me?!"
Lily grinned from between her cousins. "Serves you right to organise interventions for me behind my back, sister dear."