Written for: Defense Against the Dark Arts & Newt Scamander's Suitcase & National Princess Day

Task 3 (DADA): Write about someone doing something against their will.

Task (NSS): Write about a place that feels like home.

Prompts:

(word) unforgivable

(word) safe

(character) Lily Evans

20. Eilonwy - The Black Cauldron - Write about showing belief in someone.

It had been a stupid, foolish mistake. Lily Potter (nee Evans) didn't make much of those, but then again, Thursday had never been her lucky day. Maybe it was because James had been particularly annoying or Lily herself was just too tired of being cooped up in a cottage with nothing other than books to keep her occupied, but the mistake had been made, and that was that.

It was two weeks after her twentieth birthday. The party had been a large one, with all of hers and James' classmates being invited. It was amazing and Lily had tons of fun catching up with those she hadn't seen in months, like Marlene and Dorcas. But two weeks after, and activity ceased completely. James and Sirius were immersed in their Auror training, Remus was off doing some business with werewolf packs on Dumbledore's behalf, and Peter ... Lily frankly didn't care what he was doing. He gave her the creeps, with all the lovey-dovey stares whenever James wasn't looking. As long as he stayed far, far away, Lily would be happy.

While her friends had been getting busy in the real world, the redheaded witch didn't have anything to do. When she'd first graduated Hogwarts, Lily had had dreams of becoming a healer, or possibly a licensed potions mistress. Months later, and turns out even the Ministry discriminated against muggleborns. All the high positions were occupied by purebloods, with a few half-bloods here and there. Muggleborns like Lily could only marry purebloods and live the high life, if they were lucky. Otherwise, they'd have to try their luck within the muggle world, and the chances of getting a job there when your education didn't get past primary school was absolutely nil. When Lily'd applied for the healer training program, the senior director had owled her a letter of apology, stating that all the position were full, while Marlene and Dorcas got in without any problems (Marlene was a pureblood and Dorcas a half-blood). Since then, the former Evans had been restricted to home and the occasional visits to Diagon Alley. In other words, she was absolutely miserable.

So, one night, when James was off doing a night shift at the Auror office, Lily put on a little black dress, applied some makeup and determinedly apparated to London, in search of a proper bar or nightclub where she could have a few drinks and spill out her problems to some soul who wouldn't remember in the morning.

At the same time, on the other side of the world, the king of the gods was getting tired of his wife's incessant ranting. He paid no mind to the fact that maybe she was in the right, that centuries of infidelity with the inability to seek a divorce would have anyone bitter; Zeus just wanted to escape the horror that had become the throne room of Olympus.

With that in mind, the god of lightning conjured an illusion of himself that would fool Hera for maybe five minutes, (but by the time she found out, he'd be long gone) and disappeared to the first location that caught his eye most: the 'Scarfes Bar' up in downtown London. It was chic enough for his tastes, and besides, it had been a long time since the Grecian king had visited England; not since the Western civilization had moved to America.

Before appearing in the building, Zeus changed his toga to some casual mortal clothes and stowed away his master bolt. If he bumped into clear-sighted mortals, it could cause problems, and that was the last thing he needed.

The atmosphere in the bar was cool and clear. Lily had handpicked the location just for that reason, because even if she got drunk, the air would be able to rouse her enough so she could gather up some energy to apparate away without splinching herself.

She'd settled herself on a comfortable bar seat half an hour ago, with her wedding ring tucked away in her clutch. Lily didn't need the reminder of any ties or marital bonds tonight. She was young, and still had plenty of space for making mistakes.

"Keep them going." The red head told the bartender after her third shot of whiskey.

"Rough night?" The brunette behind the bar asked sympathetically.

"Rough life." Lily snorted.

The brunette made a sound of agreement. "I'm Jennifer. Call me Jen."

"Nice to meet you, Jen. I'm Lily."

"Lily ... pretty name. Are you from around here?" Jen asked curiously, pouring Lily her fourth shot.

Lily shook her head, a small smile on her face. "No. I've lived in the Scottish highlands since '71. Moved back around the west country just a few months ago."

"Oh. That's pretty sweet." Jen admitted. "Did you go to school in Scotland?"

"Yes. An elite boarding school, you could say. Parents were so proud I got accepted. I didn't even notice how jealous my sister was until I was about to leave." Lily sighed sadly.

"But she understood, didn't she? Your sister?" The brunette raised an immaculate eyebrow, serving up a cocktail for one of the other customers; a man with tanned skin, midnight black hair and stormy blue eyes.

Lily snorted again. "Hmph. I wish. Petunia never did get over my acceptance. It was the reason we drifted apart. And you know why that's sad? Because we were so close when we were kids. We had a bond that most siblings weren't lucky enough to have. She begged me not to go, but I did, because my education was important to me. I told her she should support me and not be such a bitter hag. That's exactly what I said. Me, an eleven year old, to my fourteen year old sister, who'd only ever taken care of and supported me. It's my fault things are like this right now, not hers."

Jen sighed in sympathy and opened her mouth to say something, but one of her customers called her away. With an apologetic look, she left Lily on her own with a full bottle of alcohol, which, in hindsight, wasn't a wise idea.

As Jen continued serving her customers and the night wore on, she gradually forgot about Lily as the hullabaloo increased. The red head didn't mind. By 10:00pm, Lily was more than a little tipsy. She found herself spilling her guts out for the Greek man her hazy mind vaguely registered as gorgeous. He made all right comments at all the right times, told her a basic version of his own story, and the witch and the god found themselves relating to each other more and more as Artemis made her way across the night sky.

When Lily later thought about that night, the only thing she could remember about her curious conversation with the man was this little excerpt:

"I am a Grecian native." He told her.

"Greek ... I like Greek's. Always have." Lily admitted. "Their gods are fascinating."

"Are they?" The man - he'd said his name was Kasios - raised an eyebrow.

"Mhm. Aside from the fact that they're a complete incest cluster-fuck, I like their function. Makes for good stories. Besides, they seem a tiny bit more realistic than the big G-O-D. At least for me. My community doesn't believe in 'im. Says 'e's too 'righteous'. Maybe they're right. Dunno. I'd like to believe in 'em. Hmmm ... maybe I do believe in 'em. Do you think I do? I used to pray to Zeus and 'Thena when I was little. Thought I'd be the next great coming of Atalanta or someone like 'er." Lily'd slurred drunkenly.

"I think you can be just as fierce as her. In fact, I think you'll be even better than Atalanta. Whoever is under your protection will undoubtedly survive. I think you are a 'bearer of light', this you can never get rid of, even after death. You will forevermore be safe."

He'd put his right palm on her shoulder, and Lily felt a brief sting, but nothing after that. Unbeknownst to her, Zeus (or Kasios, as she knew him) had given her his godly blessing. That, in turn, was passed down to their son, and was ultimately how he survived the Dark Lord's attack, one year into his life.

The morning after ...

It was the halting screech of a dozen angry birds that awakened Lily from her sleep. First, she stirred. She buried her head in her silken pillow, trying to go back to sleep. But the thought of a 'silken pillow' made her stop for just one second, and that was enough time for the realization to sink in.

Silken pillow. Lily didn't own a silken pillow. When she and James had bought the house in Godric's Hollow, they'd agreed to keep the posh furnishings and decorations to a bare minimum. The only rich things they owned were the golden filigreed portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Potter, James' parents. So, by the heavens, why was her head on a silken pillow?

The red head opened her eyes, and was instantly assaulted with the morning light. That didn't deter her though, and she continued scouting her surroundings.

She was in a hotel room. A bloody hotel room. Her clothes were scattered everywhere, (her bra was on the chandelier, for Merlin's sake!) she had a blinding headache, and there was no sign of her alleged one night stand.

"Oh, bollocks."

James was going to kill her.

Lily hated lying. She hated her life. She hated what she'd done. Most of all, she hated James for so instantly believing in her lie, for being so stupidly trusting.

"Tshhh, you're in so much trouble, honey." The talking bathroom mirror tsked upon sighting the positive pregnancy test in Lily's hands.

"Go to hell." The red head snapped, tossing the test away.

She knew the kid wasn't James'. Lily just knew. Oh, if only she could get her hands on Kasios now ...

"Okay, Evans. You can do this. You can conjure up one measly little lie. You can do it without arousing any suspicion. You can do it." Lily tried to convince herself the next day.

Her initial backstory had included Sirius' insane cousin and a bunch of nastiness. She'd said just as much, but had pulled up the 'emotional trauma' card to avoid talking about it. She hated lying, and she was pants at it, so too much of it would only get her in trouble. But today, James had insisted she would be better off if she talked to somebody about it, and if she wasn't going to tell him, she was going to the psychologist.

"Dammit!" Lily Potter shrieked in desperation.

Harry was born on the 31st of July. He had tufts of naturally wind-blown black hair, Lily's stunning emerald eyes, and the aristocratic features James bragged his mother had had. But Lily knew the truth, and she remembered Kasios well enough to know that this was entirely his face. The only thing Harry'd inherited from her was his eyes.

"I'm sorry, James ..." She mumbled sadly, staring into her newborn baby's eyes.

She'd cheated on him, and that was unforgivable, but Harry was the result, so she didn't regret it.

It was the evening of October 31st. Lily had just taken the pumpkin pie out of the oven, putting it on the stove top to cool. She settled on a comfy armchair with a mug of her favorite calming tea, watching James play with Harry.

Nothing about the atmosphere of Godric's Hollow even hinted that something bad was going to happen. The Potters, though under the Fidelius charm and therefore hidden from everyone but their secret keeper, had ample decoration all over their house. Lily had relied on her muggle upbringing to appropriately decorate the house, and had absolutely refused to touch her wand during the process.

James had bought pumpkins earlier that month, and Lily had finished carving up the last one yesterday. Candles were glowing inside those, and multiple lanterns hung around the Potter home. The fire was burning brightly, and the lights were all turned either yellow or orange for the occasion.

When the Dark Lord burst the door open half an hour later, all Lily Evans Potter could think of was:

'Damn you, Peter!'