Disclaimer: Created the plot and the unique characters. That is all.


Chapter Three

Lily made a face as she entered the stall. She dreaded putting her new leather boots into the toilet and flushing herself into the ministry. She adjusted her briefcase and took a deep breath, stepping into the bowl. Despite the blue water in the bowl, her feet remained dry. She reached up and pulled the chain handle, flushing herself quite properly down the loo.

Being flushed felt very much like aparating, but with the sensation of diving feet first into a deep, summer's pool. The wet warm enveloped her, a blanket that squeezed a bit too tight before the sensation completely released her and Lily found her footing on the stone steps inside the grate of the loo-floo. Not the worst way to travel from one place to the next, but Lily wondered if she could talk the minister into signing a special permission for her house to be hooked up to the floo network that specifically would allow her access to the ministry. Granted, she'd need to commission a fire grate to be installed into the apartment, but nothing was impossible with magic.

Wizards and witches hurried past her, cloaks flapping behind them as they went this way or that way. She paused in the madness to catch her breath and bearings. She glanced at the giant fountain, damaged from a battle that had gone down when her father was a child, and paused. The ministry had made the decision to not repair or replace it. Large chunks of marble were missing, and while the water still poured from it, the basin that contained the water had broken and water leeched from the cracks and breaks, spreading on the floor. A spell had been placed to keep it from spreading very far from the base.

"Move it," a gruff voice growled as a solid shoulder connected with Lily's shoulder, knocking her aside. She was tempted to pull her wand and jinx him but she reminded herself that she was a long time out of Hogwarts. It would not do well for her to jinx a fellow witch or wizard. Instead she steadied her nerves and headed toward the bank of lifts, crowding into a car.

The lift seemed to know where to go automatically. It was almost like magic, and Lily giggled to herself at the thought, glancing up at the mass of circling paper airplanes, thinking there had to be a better way to get interdepartmental memos from floor to floor. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the lift had come to a stop and everyone was glancing around.

"Who's floor is this?" a voice piped up from the sardine crowd. Lily glanced up at the sign above the lift door. It said 'Minister of Magic' in elegant scrolling letters.

"Oh, mine, sorry," Lily said and the mass of people parted like the red sea, allowing her to exit. "I thought it'd take longer."

"Minister's floor is priority," a witch explained while a few others just rolled their eyes. Lily blushed and hurried off. She would have to remember that for the future, so not to be so far back in the lift. The doors to the lift slammed shut and the departure caused the briefest of breeze that ruffled Lily's hair.

The hallway on the Minister's floor was eerily silent. It was the top floor of the ministry's building with giant sky lights in the ceiling, which would probably let in tons of light if it wasn't threatening rain outside. Without the natural light, the foyer was dreary. A giant semicircle desk flanked on both sides by a spanning wall and overstuffed chairs greeted her. There wasn't a single soul around.

"Hello?" Lily called out as she approached the desk.

"Hello," a deep voice said and Lily spun around, hand to her heart. "Did I scare you?"

"Merlin, yes," Lily said glaring at Damon standing there. He grinned at her and held out a cup of coffee.

"I figured you'd want to see a friendly face," Damon explained as Lily sipped the coffee. Her expression was priceless, caught between surprise and happiness.

"How'd you know how I like my coffee?" Lily asked him. He laughed.

"I just remember," he explained dismissively waving his hand in the air. "And don't flatter yourself thinking I only trekked all the way up here to see your smiling face. I had to deliver this report to the minister. Is he in yet?"

"I, uh, I have no idea," Lily frowned slightly. "I only got here a moment ago. How'd you get up here? I didn't hear a lift."

"Lily, Lily, Lily," Damon grinned at her. "Department of Auror Affairs has its ways."

"Ah, damn. More Auror secrets," Lily wrinkled her nose a little, shaking her head. "Well, if you're in a hurry, and since I've been so unceremoniously tossed into this position of Secretary to the Minister, I can deliver that to him when he arrives."

"Oh, no can do Lily," Damon said withdrawing the file folder from her reach. "There's not much in the ministry that has to be hand delivered by official personnel. Auror related, though, must be kept under lock and key."

"It must be nice to be so important," Lily teased as a large man entered the room from a private grate. He was nearly twice as tall as Lily and held himself in an intimidating stance. Lily recognized him immediately. "Minister Parker."

"Please, Lily," the man said waving the air in front of him dismissively. "Obadiah."

"Minister Obadiah-"

"No, Lily. Just call me Obadiah," he said as he strolled over to where Damon and Lily were standing sipping coffee. "Damon, my coffee?"

"Yes, sir," Damon replied holding out the other cup he had been holding.

"And you have the report I see," Minister Obadiah Parker said as he strolled over to the solid wall. Lily wasn't sure what he was going to do. She half expected him to whip out his wand and do some sort of knock with it, like the brick wall behind The Leaky Cauldron. Instead, he walked right in as if the wall wasn't even there. Damon was on his heels and Lily just stared.

"Lily, come on," Damon tossed back over his shoulder in a rough whisper as he crossed the threshold between the antechamber and Minister Parker's office. Lily jogged toward the wall, remembering her mother's words the first time she had crossed the barrier for Platform 9 3/4: Don't hesitate. Lily jogged through and was surprised to find Minister Parker's office bright and sunny.

"Artificial sunlight," Minister Parker explained as Lily stood blinking.

"Ah," Lily replied. She had never been in his office. When he had recruited her for the position, a favor for Draco Malfoy no doubt or in memory of her father, he had traveled to her home and place of work to interview and entice her to take the position and to return to London.

"Lily, if your don't mind sitting in and taking notes on this debriefing," Minister Parker said gesturing to one of the chairs in the room. Lily opted for one by a large plate window, pulling out her Quik Quill and parchment pad, glancing curiously at Damon. Her heart picked up tempo when he looked at her and flashed her a quick smile.

"Ready?" Damon mouthed while the Minister of Magic settled behind the large desk. Lily nodded.

For the next twenty minutes, Damon debriefed the minister on all things Auror. Lily's quill was going a mile a minute and her head spun. She was used to things like trolls, vampires, and even werewolves, but it had been so long since she'd been caught up in the day to day world of all things magical and mystical, it had been easy to push them from the forefront of her mind.

"One final thing, sir," Damon said as he glanced over at Lily. Something in the change in his tone and his hesitation to speak, even briefly, made Lily sit up and take notice. "We're having some issues with a certain vampire population again."

"The Argentineans? Again? Seriously?" sighed the minister, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I swear, I am getting so sick of them. What's the problem now?"

"They believe that the treaty hasn't been fully upheld."

"What's the game plan?"

"Mr. Malfoy is thinking about sending a very small team down to discuss with them their options," Damon explained as he closed his folder. "With your approval, obviously."

"Obviously," the minister parroted. "I'll send the approval letter down with Lily later. But I want it to be clear that the ministry's patience on this matter was used up years ago. I want full and complete cooperation from our agents otherwise I'm putting a stake in the operation and pulling our agents out."

"Good one, sir," Damon applauded though he didn't laugh at the minister's play on words. "So, we should receive the approval letter by call of business tomorrow?" The minister glanced at Lily, who nodded.

"Call of business, then," Minister Parker said dismissively. Damon stood and Lily copied his movement. "Good day, Damon."

"Good day, Minister Parker," Damon replied and he glanced at Lily, trying to gauge her reaction to the conversation. She prided herself on her stone facade. She had spent the last nine years perfecting her ability to hide her emotions. Inside her heart ached. Scorpius and James had headed to Argentina. It was where they were supposed to travel from on their wedding day. James had made it out, just to die at St. Mungo's. Scorpius hadn't.

"Lily, before you walk him out, can you give me your notes so that I can re-read them for dissemination among the ministry?" Minister Parker requested.

"Of course," Lily handed over the pages of notes she'd taken during the briefing. He took them wearily, without even looking at Lily. Lily followed Damon out of the bright office and back into the dimmer, dreary antechamber.

"So, Lily," Damon said finally looking at her.

"Damon?" Lily breathed. There were so many questions that she wanted to ask him, even if she knew that he'd not answer a single one. She didn't know what frustrated her more, that he knew things or that he couldn't share.

"You know I can't discuss it," Damon cut her off.

"Not even for me?" Lily tried to flirt with him. He cocked his eyebrow up.

"You know the answer to that," he replied. "And you know you can't share anything you heard."

"Or go digging, I know," Lily sighed. Damon put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly. He didn't say anything for a long stretch of time, just stared at her as if he were contemplating saying more, before he dropped his hand.

"How about we catch some drinks and dinner after work," Damon suggested and it sounded more like a command than a question. Lily frowned slightly.

"I actually have plans tonight," Lily said with a slight shrug. If Damon was disappointed, he didn't let it show on his face.

"Some other night then," he said. He turned and walked toward a much smaller lift, one that Lily hadn't noticed until he walked to it. She watched as he tapped the frame with his wand and the door melted away. He turned and threw her one last look before stepping over the threshold and the door materializing back into place.

"Yeah," Lily replied to the empty room.

She spent the better part of her day preparing scrolls and fetching beverages for important visitors. She knew deep down it was a waste of her talents but she hadn't been able to do much healing since her wedding day. Oh, she could handle the simple scraped knees or broken arm, but anything more had her turning inside herself. She just couldn't stomach the big stuff anymore.

"Lily," a voice interrupted her thoughts and she looked up from her desk to see Minister Parker standing there, cloak in hand.

"Sir?" Lily replied.

"I'm heading out," he said checking an ornate pocket watch. "It's already late. I know your son's visiting family, but don't burn yourself early on."

"I'll head home after I finish up here," Lily promised as she gestured to the letter she was scribing for the minister's meeting in the morning. He nodded and left. Lily turned back to the what she was working on, eager to finish before she was too terribly late for dinner at her dad's house. Lily hesitated, looking up across the empty room. It wasn't her dad's house anymore. Albus and Kate lived there now with their children.

Lily stood outside of the same house she'd grown up in, looking up at the aging clap board siding. Her aunt and uncle still lived nearby though they were spending a lot of time traveling. Their house was dark. Lily had hoped there would be time for her to make something for the dinner, but she had spent more time than she planned at work. Sighing, she pushed the bell and almost instantaneously the door opened.

"Aunt Lily!" Fourteen year old Tina cheered pushing the door open. "Thank Merlin you're here. Please tell my dad that I'm old enough to date."

"Tina, don't you dare drag her into this," Albus called as he grabbed up one of the smaller children before he could eat something vile off the floor. After James' daughter, Lucy, was born 3 months after Theron, Lily had lost count of the children her brothers and cousins brought into the ever expanding family. Only she, and Uncle George remained unmarried, and only Uncle George was childless.

"How's Kate?" Lily asked as she embraced her brother, ruffling the hair of the nearest ginger haired child.

"Pregnant as ever," Albus said rolling his eyes. He and Kate were giving Grandma Weasley a run for her money in the kids department.

"I can't wait until I go back to Hogwarts," huffed Tina as she plopped down on the well worn couch. "At least there I don't have to share a bed."

"Like you're some joy to share a bed with," Eleven year old Sarah taunted as she looked up from a thick book. "Hello Aunt Lily."

"Excited about going to Hogwarts?" Lily asked as she conjured up a chair to sit on. The one empty chair in the room had been her father's favorite chair and she couldn't bring herself to sit in it.

"You bet," she said. She gestured to the various shades of auburn, ginger, and brown around here. "I keep telling them we'd rather have a dog or get cable." Lily laughed.

"I bet," Lily said. She had been the only girl in the sea of just two brothers, and sometimes she thought that it was too much. She didn't even know how many kids Albus and Kate were up to anymore. At least five, if she remembered correctly. There was a lull between Sarah and the twins, which Kate was pretty sure her body was broken. Granted, after Lily lost the baby, her father, her brother, and her fiance all on the same day, Kate stopped coming to her to gripe.

"Has Theron's letter come?" Sarah asked nervously.

"Not yet," Lily assured her and the girl looked relieved. Sarah, Theron, James' daughter, Lucy, and Rose's daughter, Tabby would all be first years this year. Lily had gone to Hogwarts without anyone in her family her age, and her son would be accompanied by three cousins. Lily smiled at the thought. Theron liked his cousins, aside from the fact that he found them to be too girly.

"Do you think we'll get them soon?" Sarah asked.

"Probably in the next few weeks," Lily promised.

"Dad wants Sarah to be in Gryffindor, since I'm in Slytherin," Tina interjected. Lily glanced at Sarah, who was twisting a bookmark in her hand.

"Sarah, I'm sure that your dad will be happy with whichever house you end up in," Lily promised with a smile. "I was the first in Slytherin from our family, your sister was second. And if you end up in Slytherin, your dad will be happy for you."

"But he'd be more happy if I ended up in Gryffindor," Sarah's voice dropped. "I hear them talking about it when they don't think I can hear."

"Obviously we can hear," Tina grumbled as she rolled her eyes. "The dead can hear them fight."

"Tina!" Sarah gasped, looking at Lily. Lily smiled.

"It's okay, Sarah. People fight. It doesn't always mean something," Lily said.

"Did you and... did you ever fight with someone you were supposed to love?" Sarah asked dejectedly. Tina glanced at Lily briefly, trying to hide the look of interest on her face.

"Oh Merlin, yes! All of the time!" Lily laughed quietly. "Theron's dad and I were like oil and water sometimes. But I'd like to believe that if he were still alive, we would have made it work at all cost, even if that meant occasionally having to fight loudly."

"Well, I don't like it. Not one bit," Sarah said crossing her arms against her chest. Lily nodded solemnly but didn't say anything else. She had been where Sarah sat now, younger than maybe even Sarah, when her parents had a row over something that was seemingly unimportant all these years later.

"I wish they'd stop having kids," Tina grumbled and she picked up one of the tattered books of the table, a spell book from her second year. "I'm the oldest and I still get hand me downs."

"So does Petri," reminded Lily.

"Yeah, but Lucy gets new books because there are four of them going this year and not enough used books to go around," Tina's words were bitter.

"I don't mind used books," Sarah promised as she took the book and held it to her as a shield. Lily smiled at them.

"How about this, Tina," Lily dropped her voice to a whisper so that one of the smaller kids couldn't over hear her. "When you get your letter, owl it to me at the ministry or my home. I'll take care of it."

"Do you really mean it, Aunt Lily?" Tina barely contained her excitement. "I mean really, really? Won't my parents be mad?"

"You're my niece, Tina, and I'll already be shopping for Theron's books," Lily promised. The once sullen teenager launched herself into her Lily's arms and squeezed.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" squealed Tina loudly. "I promise, I'm going to be the best pupil ever at Hogwarts."

"Psht," Albus snorted as he walked into the room. "Your Aunt Lily broke all those records when she went." Tina's face fell a little as she retreated to the room that she and Sarah shared, Sarah slipped behind her book, and Lily frowned at him.

"Albus," Lily chastised.

"What's her problem?" Albus grumbled as he tossed himself in the chair. He looked haggard and older than his mid thirties, with graying patches of hair here and there, the start of a scraggly beard, and tired, drooping eyes.

"I can't explain it to you," Lily shook her head. She looked at her brother and tried to look past the weariness to the boy she'd grown up with as a child. He was in there, somewhere, crushed under the weight of loss and responsibility, not just to his kids and wife, but to his sister, his niece, and his nephews. He was the patriarch of the Potter family now.

"Lily," Kate said wearily as she came into the room. Lily thought her sister in law could use as much of a break as Albus.

"I was wondering," Lily started with the plotting. "Maybe Sarah and Tina can stay with me in a few weeks, when Theron comes back, to give you two sometime together and with the younger ones."

"I can even handle their supply shopping, no problem," she added looking at the suspicion in her brother's eyes.

"What's the catch?" Albus asked.

"No catch, big brother," Lily promised, crossing an x over her heart like she had when she was a very little girl. "I miss the time I spent with Tina, and I love having Sarah over."

"What about your ministry job?" Kate asked as she absentmindedly rubbed her rounded stomach.

"The girls and Theron are old enough to stay at the house by themselves, and I'm getting a fireplace installed so you can pop your head in and chat them up whenever you want," Lily explained. "The house is just so lonely with Theron and I."

"Must be nice," Albus muttered to himself and Kate glared at him. "What? Well, it must be!"

"I haven't peed or showered alone in years and you're complaining about being lonely?" Kate screeched at him. Sarah clamped her hands over her ears and ran up the stairs. One of the smaller kids stopped chewing on the leg of the wooden table to look. "Now look what you've done, Albus."

"Me? You're the one who's always-"

"HEY! That's enough!" Lily snapped, magnifying her voice with her wand. Albus and Kate both looked battle shocked, their mouths hanging open as they looked at her. "I don't know what's wrong, you don't share it with me, but this isn't healthy for anyone."

"It's just so hard," Albus' voice echoed the defeat written on his face. Kate buried her own face in her hands and released a loud, shuddering sob. Lily felt horrible for yelling at them, but it had to be done. Her nieces and nephews deserved a peaceful home.

"Let me take Sarah and Tina for a while," Lily offered. "Give you guys a break."

"I hate that I can't give them everything they want or need," his voice broke under the strain of threatened tears and Lily knew that this was more than just being poor, this was severe poverty. She looked around more focused now and saw that the place was clean but only because it was bare of more than the very minimum. It made her heart ache.

Ginny had talked of her upbringing briefly, to say that her parents weren't rich so most everything was either handmade or second hand, but there was always love and warmth. Under Grandma Weasley, her children didn't suffer. Lily thought of Tina, remembering how elite and sophisticated and rich everyone in Slytherin had been. Her heart ached even more.

"Let me help you," Lily begged. Her brother looked up, anger in his eyes, pride burning his soul, and somewhere deep in there, Lily could see he was thankful to unload just a bit of the burden he'd been carrying since their father had died and left him to care and support his family on his own.