Title: Fissures in the Crystal Ball

Author: Ravenne Lil

Rating: PG -13

Category: AU, Drama, Angst, Romance

Warnings: Death

Summary: Lily declines her invite to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, years later with the Wizard War bleeding into the muggle world, Lily finds herself drawn into a conflict she is not prepared for, a young wizard of pureblood ancestry who she did not expect and destiny that she cannot avoid.

Chapter 2– We've been going in the same direction

Much to Lily's surprise James had returned back to that bookshop and continued to return as often as he could for the remainder of that summer. She still acted coy, refusing to give her name each time he came to see her. It had become a little game between them and he seemed as much into it as she was. He tried many ways of getting it out of her but she was able to resist and counter. Till one day while she had been restocking the shelves with James's help as he had become a common presence in the shop, she had leaned over and whispered in his ear a single name: Lily.

He though it was a beautiful name, deceptively simple but elegant. And as with her name, he had learned a great deal about her that remaining month before school started. He concluded that he had been right about her from the start. She seemed to have a vested interest in magic, though it was a Muggle kind. How James wished that he should show her the truth. He believed she could handle it, but before he even built up the courage to do that, he had to report to King's Cross.

Before the summer ended, he had explained to Lily that he went to a boarding school, and had given her his home address to write to him, saying that his parents would forward the letters. If she had been curious as to why she couldn't just write to him at school, she had spoken up. James was glad for that. He already felt like he was lying to her, even if it was just a lie of omission. She was opening up about her life, telling him about her older sister who she lived with for the summer and having to return home to the second cousin that had taken them in when she and her sister were both young after the death of their parents. She had told him about her school and about her plans to go to university. Anything he brought up about himself had to be twisted ever so slightly or large details kept out. Sometimes he would slip up but so far, no large mistakes to cause worry.

As fall came and turned to winter, their friendship grew. The letters between them had continued through the school year till he had graduated. Then things had began to get serious with the political situation in the magical world. James had come to a very hard crossroad. Lily knew nothing about what was going on. As much as he was sure that he could tell her about the magical world and she wouldn't react like a typical muggle would, he didn't think it right to drag her into this mess. She wasn't a part of this world and he couldn't pretend anymore that he was a part of hers. He eventually had decided that things were becoming too serious for him to play games with a muggle girl.

He hated to think of Lily like that. She was so much more than just any other Muggle. But it didn't make the situation any easier at the moment.

He heard a familiar voice call him in the distance trying to break through his reverie. "Potter…Potter," Sirius called out to him as the four of them walked down the Muggle street, patrolling through an area that had come to be known to the Order of the Phoenix as an area where dark wizards were terrorizing Muggles. It was risky business what they were doing, but all of them knew what they were getting into and they wanted to make a difference.

"He's too busy thinking about pretty redheads." He could hear Remus chime in.

"Isn't it such a coincidence that we've ended up around the shop she works in?"

"She shouldn't even be working tonight," he said looking back at his friends.

"But you have considered it. I would bet anything," Sirius said with a laugh, his elbow jabbing Remus in the side. They had great fun teasing him about Lily. They had seen him with other girls through the years. He never acted like this with any of them and none of them had expected him to fall for a girl that he primarily communicated with through letters. It was something out of a romance novel that they would never of course. They had a running joke that this Muggle girl had successfully cast a spell over him. James took it all in stride but in his mind he was plotting revenge.

They were right however; he had been thinking of Lily, much like how he thought about Lily on a fairly regular basis. He had no contact with her for some time now and he wondered about her, wondered what she was doing, wondered how school was her, wondered if she had applied for university. These were things he really had no reason to think of but because they had to do with Lily, they were important to him. Maybe in the back of his mind, since they were in the area, he had hoped to stop by.

Coming up behind him, Sirius put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. "We can go walk by the shop," he said to his friend, knowing full well that it wasn't a coincidence. "You know, just in case she is there."

While working in a bookshop after graduating was not her dream job, it was a job nonetheless and since she was living in London now, she needed something; anything to help pay her bills and rent. Luckily she had a roommate-Moira-to help her with the rent part. She was currently looking into possibly universities but there was hesitation. Lily didn't quite know what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She had gone to school up till this point because that was what she was supposed to do. Now she was at a point where she had to make choices and she had no idea what she wanted. It was frustrating to think that at only eighteen, her life was stalled.

It was a fortunate thing that it was close to closing otherwise she was sure that she wouldn't have been able to get lost in these thoughts as she unpacked a new shipment of books and began arranging them for a window display. There weren't any patrons in the shop and in another half hour she would be able to close up for the night. Blowing out a breath to push aside a rogue strand of red hair that fell in front of her face as Lily pulled out several of the books from their box; she heard the bell from the front door to indicate that someone had entered the shop. Lily quickly put the books aside, hoping that she could assist the customer and get them out of the store in a timely manner.

Turning her attention to the newcomer for the first time, she was taken aback when she came face to face with not one customer as she had expected but three and they didn't look very interested in buying anything from the store. They didn't address her at first. Instead they remained silent as their critical gaze moved about the shop. They moved further into the shop, still not saying anything and it began to make her very nervous.

"Is there something I can help you with gentlemen? Are you looking for a particular author or genre?" she asked, trying to probe and find a way to assist them faster and get them out of the shop.

Finally one of them responded. He gave a slight snort as he picked up one of the books. "Muggle magic," he said a note of clear disgust in his tone. "We don't want anything from here. This isn't real magic. How dare you even try and imply that it is. You had no idea about real magic."

In disgust he tossed the book back onto its self. The book hit the back of the shelf before toppling off again and taking several other publications with it. Lily's brow furrowed and she began to back up slowly to get to the desk. The only thing on her mind at the moment was getting to the phone. She had no idea what they would do or what they were capable of. Though the talk of muggle magic and real magic…she had an idea what sort of advantage they had.

"If you have an issue with what we sell, take it up with the owner. I just work here and I'm going to need to ask you to leave," Lily said with a defiant tone in her voice. She didn't want trouble; she didn't want to instigate them. She just wanted them to leave.

All hopes of a possible peaceful settlement vanished though as the one that spoke to her drew out his wand. At seeing the slender wooden rod, she knew that her chances had dropped substantially. What could she do against someone that had been trained?

"Leave? We will, but not without making an example of this shop and you. You understand of course, we can't let this mockery of our heritage stand."

They were blocking the way to the door but Lily wasn't just going to stand there and let them perform some magic on her! Without bothering to reply, she made a mad dash to the side, hoping to use the book shelves as cover. Perhaps there would be a way that could maneuver around them. Magic depended on reflexes right? If she was faster than them, maybe she could out run possible hexes.

In the next moment she heard sounds that were alien to her but instinct and the fact that suddenly paper and books were flying everywhere, wood from the shelves blasted apart behind her. In the back of her mind over and over again she kept thinking how stupid this was and she just needed to get to the door. Suddenly there was a blast directly in front of her that caused her to come to a stop and drop to the ground. They were catching on to where she wanted to go. She needed better cover then the shelves.

Crouched down, adrenaline coursing through her, Lily took a deep breath before making a dash to where she had come from and diving behind the desk. This probably wasn't any better but it gave her more cover.

"You may as well just keep still. We'll make it much easier for you then. If you continue to be difficult, it will only make us frustrated. You'll experience all sorts of nasty spells with real magic then," the wizard said, his tone mocking. She could hear the floor boards creak as they began to approach the desk. "Maybe that's what you would want? You are so interested in magic. How fascinating to experience something you would never be able to on your own!"

There was added energy in James' step as they walked down Cecil court. The street was all but deserted since most of the shops had closed for the evening. He didn't expect her to be in the shop this late, but after so long without seeing her, at least being in a place where he had been with her gave him some measure of happiness. But also some regret. He never had bucked up the courage to ask her out on a proper date before school started. Now he was set on keeping her out of the troubles of their world.

Watkins storefront was within view, no more than half a block away from them. The group of young wizards were happily chatting, letting their guard down for a moment for this little side trip. Needless to say when there was a sudden strong force, a pressure that blew out the glass of the windows and the door, none of them had been expecting it.

James took off in a run towards the shop. What the hell had that been? It didn't look exactly like an explosion. What could explode in a bookshop? He could hear the others behind him but their footsteps faded as he came up to the front of the shop, glass and broken wood crunched under his shoes. He could see inside the shop thanks to the light of a lamp that had been situated on the counter but now laid out on the floor of the shop, flickering intermittently. There were three dark figures lying on the ground in the shop wearing what could only be seen as wizard robes. What were they doing here?

His confusion was interrupted by movement coming from behind the counter. Taking out his wand, he readied incase he needed to defend himself and slowly approached the counter. The first thing he saw was a flash of red hair in the dim lighting. "Lily?"

As she looked up, James felt relief go through him as his eyes met with her green ones. There was some fear behind them and confusion but still a strength that he would come to associate with her. Her gaze flickered down to his wand. "You're one of them," he heard her say, her tone breathless almost in disbelief.

Looking down at his wand that he still had pointed at her, James quickly moved to slide the slender wooden stick onto his belt. "I'm not," he said curtly as he reached down to pull her up from the sitting position and walked her towards the exit quickly. The three dark wizards were out of it for now and he didn't want to get into a duel with Lily around. Not that she probably hadn't seen something already…

Sirius, Remus and Peter had caught up by the time that James was taking Lily from the shop. "We should go back," James said as soon as he saw his friends.

"With her?" Peter asked incredulously, pointing to Lily. "Isn't she the muggle you've been caught up on, James? She's just going to be in the way."

"Muggle," Lily repeated softly.

"Non-magic folk." Remus explained with a cordial smile, believing that she would be unfamiliar with the term. The best right now would be to remain calm. Yes, they were going to have to explain some out there things to a Muggle but if they were calm, hopefully she would be calm and they wouldn't have to cause anymore of a scene then already had been accomplished. And in the end her memories could be altered anyway. No harm done.

"Right…non-magical folk." Lily said in acknowledgment before her gaze went back to James. She looked as though she were struggling to say something but was unable to find the words.

James knew that he would have a great deal to answer for, but he didn't want to do it here. Looking at Sirius, he took a deep breath, "Let's just go back. If we get reamed by Dumbledore then blame me. But she's already seen too much. What more harm could it do?" Sirius didn't look pleased and Peter shared the expression. James was sure he could guess what they were thinking on his choice and motivations. It made sense to him though. They couldn't just leave Lily there. These wizards would wake up and they would be angry that their spells had backfired somehow.

"Excuse me?" Lily spoke up, the first time seeming to come out of the stunned expression she had up till this point. "I'm not going anywhere with you lot. Look at this place! I have to call the police. I have to call my boss."

"The muggle authorities won't be able to do anything," James replied, trying to reason with her. There was no point in hiding anything now. "I'm asking you to trust me, Lily. Please."

James and Sirius had somewhat of a reputation throughout the Order as being reckless and wild. No one had believed that they were downright stupid however. They were smart but young and filled with boyish energy that sometimes led them do things that could be seen as counterproductive. The way they saw it, their methods did get the job done. Still, no one really knew what to think of the move to bring a Muggle back with them. They had received a talking to by Dumbledore himself, but James didn't regret doing what he did. It was the best option they had in this situation.

It was at least a couple hours when he was finally able to see Lily again. Coming into the room, he was immediately able to tell that she very happy. Understandable considering that she was in this unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people and the only other person that she did know hadn't been accessible till now. Walking across the room, he took a seat at the table that she was situated. He wasn't sure what she had been doing while he had been detained. He had heard she had been looked over by Alice, James supposed it was a necessary precaution. She didn't look to have any serious injuries. Just some cuts and black and blue marks. Amazing considering that the magic that had knocked out windows and three dark wizards unconscious hadn't seemed to affect her in any way.

"You stopped writing to me," she said finally looking at him. It was hard for him to discern the emotion in her gaze at that moment. She had to be angry at him for that. He hadn't even given her a final explanation and instead had just stopped writing. "Is all this why? I thought you said you didn't believe in magic."

"I said I didn't believe in Muggle magic. There's a difference." he said pointedly, feeling rather uncomfortable that he was being forced into this position.

Lily actually laughed, reaching up she ran her hands though her mussed red hair. This had to be difficult for her. She was muggle after all, what did she know of this sort of magic. She did rituals out of those silly muggle magic books but this had to be the first time she saw actual magic. "Okay," she said with a deep breath. "You're a wizard. It's uncanny."

"Uncanny?" James asked. It wasn't the word he would have used to describe the situation.

"Of course," she said with a slight snort, leaning her elbow against her knee and resting her chin in her hand. "You are wizard and always have been. You walked into my shop probably for the same reason that they did. Morbid curiosity. You let me gabber on and on about muggle magic.

He just stared at her, unsure of what to say next. He wasn't even very sure what she was trying to imply. And what shocked him most of her demeanor. At the shop she had seemed shell shocked but that could contribute to the attack. Now that things had calmed down, Lily was taking all of this rather well. Perhaps she was just as open minded as she always claimed to be.

Leaning forward against the table he lowered his voice, "I wanted to tell you, Lily," he said, feeling now was as good a time as any to unburden himself to her. He hated it had to develop this way but there was nothing that could be done about it now. He didn't know if they would even let her keep these memories but he had to say his peace. "I really did. It's just…complicated and with you being a Muggle, there are laws. Sometimes there are exceptions and I really thought you could be one of them but I didn't want to bring you into this world with everything that is going on. It's a mess right now!" He could go on with trying to explain things but held up her hand in a wordless gesture to cut him off.

"You think I'm a non-magical person? A muggle?"

He was dumbstruck by her question. "Yes…" he replied. It made sense. It was the only thing that made sense. She had never displayed any magical capabilities and if she were magical she would have gone to Hogwarts! Or any other school. Who was magical but didn't learn to use it? In his mind, he had always associated with her with being Muggle.

Without saying anything in reply to his answer, Lily leaned to the side slightly to slip her hand into her jean pocket. Pulling out a few random trinkets: an ID card, some gum, and a key, she let them drop onto the table. James watched with an odd fascination, unsure what she was doing and what it had to do with the conversation that they were having. What did any of these things have to do with magic? In the next moment however his questions were answered as the objects began to levitate and float in mid air just a few inches above the table they had been placed on.

James just stared, his whole perception of her suddenly being flipped by this small act. "I've been able to do this since I was a child," Lily said, her voice cutting into his thoughts. "I can do other things as well. Small things…well, aside from what happened at the bookshop tonight."

"You did that in the bookstore?" he asked looking up at her. "You knocked those wizards out with that blast?" She was a witch! That changed everything and James was suddenly overjoyed, confused still but this could change everything. She belonged in this world. He wouldn't have to keep her out. He had no right to keep her out like he had. He wondered why she wasn't apart of it already. "How…how did this happen? You're a witch, Lily! A witch and you told me you went to muggle school."

"What happened at the bookstore was self defense!" she countered with a defensiveness he didn't quite understand the need for. He wasn't accusing her of anything. He was astonished by her actions. "They had come in started ranting about how the shop was an insult to them and a mockery to your whole culture. They became violent and I…subconsciously reacted. James it's a long story…"

"I have time," he said leaning back in his seat, clearly getting himself comfortable. He had all the time in the world right now for her. He had gotten to know her outside of magic and now he wanted to know who she was as Lily Evans the Muggle born.