Ok, I may have deformed them a little. The characters are still not mine.


"Lils, your parents weren't happy with each other." James Potter was tired. "This will be better for them, in the long run."

"Really, Jamie? And what, pray, is your criterion for judging marital happiness? Both partners dying within weeks of each other?" Lily Potter was livid.

"My parents were sick, Lily. They settled their affairs and choose to avoid prolonged suffering. Dragon pox is not a kind way to go." James knew that Lily had been deeply hurt by the death of his parents, five months ago. He could not have claimed, in all honesty, that he had managed to let them go, already. Even though he, unlike Lily, did not have a problem with suicide as such. He refrained from saying that because he knew that Lily's problems with this aspect of wizarding culture would not go away because he kept repeating something. He also refrained from comparing her anger over her own parents' recent separation to her unwillingness to accept the elder Potters' suicide, because that would have been tactless and nasty. Lily did not want to prolong anyone's suffering. She was simply having difficulties realising that sometimes the only choice was to end it quickly or to end it slowly.

Lily Potter was confused, angry, worried, and plain old hurt. Losing her parents-in-law mere months after they had welcomed her into their family had been bad. Accepting that they had decided to die before their illness – dragon pox, while not terribly common, was still an ailment that would hit elderly witches and wizards often enough – had had the chance to take its toll on them was hard.

Lily was an apprenticed Alchemist. People who dream of the Philosopher's Stone do not choose death easily.

She was deeply worried about her parents. She had been thrown out of her life rudely when she had been eleven. Only now, with school and the necessary returns and subterfuge finally over, was she starting to believe that she might build a new life for herself. Her parents however were in their fifties. How would they cope with the loss of their future? The loss of their friends, who were currently maliciously dissecting their lives over tea?

"I am sorry, hon. I want them to be all right, and I do not see how they will ever be, now. They are all but alone, for fuck's sake."

James smiled to himself. As long as Lily was swearing she was all right.

"Lils, I saw them at our wedding and I saw at your sister's wedding. They were bemused but they were all right. I think your parents may better at adapting to change than you can imagine."

That was certainly true, Lily thought. Once they had accepted that Tuney had somehow wriggled her way into the wizarding world they had accepted it lock, stock, and daughter-in-law. But that was because they expected the magical world to be strange, Lily thought. If Tuney had introduced them to a muggle girlfriend they would have shown her the door. But she couldn't explain that to James. She wanted him to like them. They were all the parents she had.

Tuney had been a surprise in a surprise in a surprise. Lily had enjoyed her sister's wedding. Watching the visiting blood 'aristocrats' squirm had been such fun. Lily was aware that wizarding France happened to view the matter from the opposite side, squabbling over talented newcomers like stamp collectors over rare old misprints. Tuney's new family sported two Veela, some sort of goblin and pretended to have a fay, though Lily refused to believe that without proof. What sort of insane person would marry a member of a genetically insane, murderous race?

And now Tuney had become a collectable her magical core that made her react to potions exactly as a witch or a squib would, but let her also react to wand cores, which no squib ever did. And then, mysteriously, did not react to any wand. It was an intriguing problem, and it was not meant to be put in the hands of totally irresponsible people. Which was apparently why her new sister-in-law intended to take it to Riddle! A part fey if there'd ever been one, messing where humans weren't meant to mess, with his combinations of muggle biology and magical research. Which, of course, none but him and his cronies could review. How convenient, Lily thought. So much for peer review. Lily had tried to warn Tuney. Dumbledore had taught Riddle personally, and he had warned them about the dangerous nature of Riddle's interests. Tuney's only response had been that a headmaster was not a scientist. In none of the two worlds. She was so irresponsible! She knew nothing about these people yet she was willing to trust them with her life!

"Lils. Are you still thinking about Petunia? You are not responsible for your sister."

Lily thought of Sunday school, many years ago, and shuddered. James noticed it and put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry, honey. Her new family may be completely impossible, by our standards, but she is one of them now and they will protect her. You saw the contracts yourself. Even if she and Anouk separate tomorrow, Petunia is in. The Malfoys don't let their trophies go."

Oh yes. Lily had seen the contracts. Contracts for every possible and impossible death and remarriage, contracts for every possible, impossible, and plainly inconceivable offspring. Petunia hadn't married that day, she had inured a package of contracts.

Lily sighed. It did not matter. These people were unbelievably nasty and formal and cold, but her sister would be able to keep abreast. If truth were told.

She smiled at James. He was right, of course. Her parents and Petunia were grown-ups. Hell, she was the baby of the family! Maybe she really was not responsible for all of them. And she could watch then from afar, couldn't she? She could, and she would. It would all be all right.


Author's Notes:

I felt like writing a short aftermath, mostly beacuse I like this very tiny section of the Potterverse and wanted to indicate why it is as different as it is.

I feel a little bad for writing this Lily. I am convinced that she is really having a very hard time with herself, but since this piece is written from her own point of view it does not leave space for anyone else's feelings.