Okay, guys, this is my first time writing a chaptered fic so please tell me how I can improve. Hope you enjoy. Review. Just review anything. I am desperate to know if someone out there is reading this.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter series. Do I look like J.K. Rowling to you?

Committee on Experimental Charms, Ministry of Magic

7 p.m.

"I see that you were Head Girl?"

Lily nodded and wiped her sweaty hands on her skirt.

The office room she was seated in was dusty and filled with books that had odd titles like 10 Ways to Identify the Lower Sections of Society and The Art of Cabbage Patches. There was an ornamental patchwork quilt that depicted scenes of meadows and forests. A pair of snapping turtles in dirty cage stared sleepily at her.

The lady sitting opposite to her in a large, green, arm-chair, gave her a cursory look and returned to her résumé. This was the third job interview Lily had attended in the last week and all of them had ended in failure. She never imagined getting a job in the magical world would be this hard.

Her interviewer, a witch by the name of Madame Dorothea, had odd hands and a sharp nose. She was covered with a woven shawl and so far things weren't looking so good. Her beady eyes scanned the papers again until they latched onto something at the bottom. She looked up sharply and stared at Lily as if she was covered in sewage. Her face twisted with disgust and shock. Her hands crumpled the sheets of paper with ferocity. Here it comes…

"We don't accept anyone with filthy blood."

"But I got the highest score in Charms! Surely that has to count for something," Lily asked, desperately, her fingers twisting together.

"I won't stand to have Mudbloods pollute this institution no matter what your accomplishments may be. I have standards," she sneered.

Lily's face flushed a bright red as she tried to hold back the hot tears that threatened to fall. Her head pounded with the cruel words that had been thrown at her. She hurriedly gathered her things and ran out of the office room, shame following her every footstep. Her hands shook and her gait was unsteady. She tried taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. She tried to push away any embarrassment about her upbringing but sometimes it got to her.

The way purebloods treated those of supposedly lesser blood made her feel sick. Weren't they all the same red-blooded people? People who had feelings and lives…Lives that they needed to support with income…Income that they can't get without jobs… Lily sighed with frustration. She couldn't think of anywhere else to get a job. She'd already gotten rejections from the Daily Prophet, the Chudley Canons (as a PA), the Apothecary in Diagon Alley and even St. Mungo's.

But this one was by far the worst one.

Never before, had her interviewer actually said the word. Usually, they just acted uncomfortable as soon as they came across the fact that she was muggle-born. Then, they would tell her that she didn't have enough experience (even the advertisement said that no experience needed) or they told her she just wasn't what they were looking for. Clearly, they were looking for the most pureblooded candidate, not the most eligible candidate.

Most of them weren't even against Muggle-borns, personally. They were just afraid that they wouldn't get business if they hired employees with less desirable characteristics. But that witch back at the office seemed like an awful person herself. Ugh.

She stumbled into the crowded elevator. A man with pretty eyes and cute dimples smiled at her. You wouldn't be smiling if you knew I was a filthy mudblood, she thought darkly. The lady clinging to the man's arm looked around him and wiggled her pert nose at her as if she had seen a particularly disgusting looking rat.

Lily glared back with as much heat as she could muster. She wasn't going to take any shit from slags she didn't even know. She got enough of it from the people she knew. The enclosed space suddenly turned stifling in the heat. Her chest was heavy and her brain felt numb. The fact that she had gotten rejected again was sinking in. Lily couldn't help but feel suffocated.

She rushed out of the building and into the street, ducking her head against the harsh wind. She headed in the direction of her favorite pub that was right around the corner. She was going to need a drink if she wanted to get over that dreadful experience. As she walked, she mentally ran through a list of places she could try next. She wondered if she would have to get a muggle job after all. That seemed to be the best option. Actually, that seemed like the only option at the moment.

She sighed again and pushed open the door to the pub. As she stepped in, she reveled in the cool atmosphere inside. She spotted a 'HELP WANTED' sign as she walked by. She briefly considered the thought but dismissed it. It seemed like a waste of her talents if she just ended up working here. But maybe temporarily… She walked back towards the sign and noted down the details.

She sat down at the bar and gestured for a drink. She looked around pensively, trying to take her mind off her problems. She spotted a couple with a small child and a few elderly men. That's why she liked this place so much. It usually wasn't so crowded and even when it was; the people who flocked this area were kind and friendly.

She took a few quick swallows and slammed the glass down. She glanced around again and spotted a familiar blonde head. She raised her hand to wave at her old friend, Emmeline. She had been a Seventh Year when Lily was in Fifth Year. She had been in Hufflepuff if Lily remembered correctly. Emmelin hesitantly waved back and walked towards her. She carefully sat down and turned her expressive eyes to her.

"So…How are you?"

"I'm alright. How are things going with you and Keaton?"

"Oh, we broke up a few weeks ago. My parents didn't really approve…"

Lily frowned. John Keaton was the perfect boyfriend. The kind of guy that all parents adored and practically adopted. She had been paired with him a few times during prefect patrols and he'd seemed laid back and easy going. Maybe he'd changed?

"Any reason?"

"Oh, you know my parents…always finding fault in everything."

Emmeline's parents were very strict. Lily remembered that Emmeline had once burst into tears in the middle of the hallway because she had gotten an A in Divination. Divination wasn't even that important and an A wasn't that bad a grade. Certainly not bad enough for tears. But her parents had said that if she didn't get an O in all her subjects, they'd ground her during summer break. Hence, the dramatics.

"So…did you hear that Allison and Scott Woolsey got married over the summer? I was so shocked. Ally's like 10 years younger than him!" Apparently, Emmeline was only interested in the latest gossip. Though Lily didn't even know most of these people, she enjoyed the company. At the very least, Emmeline didn't treat her like she was some hideous swamp monster.

"Oh, come on… She isn't that much younger than him."

"But still… when she was in Second Year, he was in Sixth. Doesn't that seem like a lot?"

"I guess so…"

3 Hours Later…

"And then, she climbed onto the roof and sang the national anthem with all those feathers stuck to her hair!"

Lily was so drunk she barely understood the story Emmeline was telling her. Granted, Emmeline probably didn't understand the story she was telling but still. She has steadily knocked back a drink every fifteen minutes and now she was sloshed. Her head was pleasantly warm and her eyes were heavy. She let out a girlish giggle.

"So…you're really fun. Never thought a mudblood could be so funny," she tittered.

Suddenly, she was stone cold sober. She felt as though as if she had slapped her. Her head swam with the excess alcohol and her stomach turned. Tears swam in her eyes. Her face was burning. She quickly stood up.

"I have to go…have some laundry to do…bye."

"Awe… don't go. I was having so much fun." Her smile looked strangely twisted now as if there was an undercurrent of maliciousness to it.

Once again, Lily ran out of the place. She felt as if she couldn't be safe from the brutal words and false smiles anywhere. Twice in one day. That was unfortunate, even for her. Her head swam with these negative thoughts as she tripped on a crack in the pavement. She decided to just go home. She'd eat a lot of junk food and mope after that awful encounter. She clutched her things and felt the familiar tug in her gut as she apparated to her flat in Muggle London.

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Love,

Lava