Chapter 10

Lily and Harry sat in there temporary quarters facing each other. They'd waited to have their talk until they could have a semblance of privacy. Hermione had gone to her room to rest, leaving Harry and his Mother alone.

"Your eyes glowed blue," Lily said quietly.

"What?" Harry blinked at her, confused.

"Your eyes glowed blue when you were fighting the demon after you woke up. What happened?"

Harry shifted in his seat. "That woman came back. She said her name was Morrigan." He didn't miss the way his Mother stiffened. "She wanted to help us get rid of the demon."

Lily arched an eyebrow. "Really?"

Harry nodded. "She said she could help get rid of the demon. All I had to do was agree to let her channel some of her power through me."

Lily grimaced. "As much as I'd like to be angry with you for that, I can't. I don't know if we'd have been able to bind the demon long enough for Hermione to finish the spell if you hadn't."

"Who is she?"

Lily's lips twitched. "Hermione?"

"No, Morrigan," Harry said scowling.

Lily hesitated. How much should she tell him? Didn't he have a right to know? What if he hated her? What if he thought less of her? Worst of all, what if he didn't view her as his Mother anymore, but at the same time, wouldn't it be worse if Morrigan told him?

"Mum?" Harry asked quietly.

"It's complicated," Lily said.

"We got time," Harry encouraged. "Dumbledore is going to let us rest for the rest of the day."

Lily shifted uncomfortably. She stood and walked over to the chair where Harry sat. With a flick of her wand, the chair became a sofa. She sat down beside Harry and slipped an arm around him. "Are you sure you want to hear this?" she asked softly.

"I think I need to," Harry said. "She keeps showing up and I'd really like to know why."

Nodding to herself, Lily took a deep breath. "I guess it all begins with my inability to have children."

"What?" Harry blinked at her.

"I was born with a birth defect that wouldn't allow me to carry a child to term. I didn't find out until I went to a healer. James was understandably devastated. In the Wizarding world, continuing ones bloodline is very important. This is doubly so when you are the last of your line as James was."

"I'm confused," Harry said. "If you can't have kids…"

"James made a deal. He summoned a being of death that his family had dealings with in the past."

'Morrigan," Harry breathed.

"Quite," Lily nodded. "Anyway, Morrigan agreed to help him, but she needed a vessel to do it. She used me to give him a son. I shared a body with her for a year while you grew inside me."

"So I was just a means to an ends for her?"

"No," Lily said firmly. "You are hers as much as you are mine. She loves you as much as I do. I could sense that when we gave birth to you."

"So what does she want?"

"She doesn't want you to be raised as a wizard. I don't really know why, but she has a very low opinion of humans and wizards in general."

"But Dad was a wizard."

"Told you it was complicated."

"SO what do I do?"

"That I can't tell you. It is up to you to decide what you want to do with this information. I'd like to say you can't talk to her, but I can't. She is just as much your Mother as I am. Biologically, I suppose she's more you're Mother than I am."

Harry shook his head. "I'm just lucky enough to have two Mothers. Thank you for telling me all of this. I know it couldn't have been easy."

"I didn't want someone else to tell you and you resent me for keeping this a secret. I must say you are taking this a lot better than I thought."

Harry was quiet for a moment. "It's not really a surprise to me. It was the way she looked at me last year when she took Quirrell's soul. She looked at me like I was the most precious thing in the world. The only person I've seen look at me like that is you."

"You are at least to me. I never thought I could have children and then she gave me you. I won't let her take you from me."

Harry pulled his Mother into a hug. "You won't lose me, I promise."

**HPSM**

"You told him."

Lily blinked. She was back in the cottage in Godric's Hallow. Morrigan sat across from her sipping a glass of wine.

"He's our son. He had every right to know."

"I noticed you didn't tell him that I'd tried to take over your body or take him after James's death."

"I'm not going to denigrate you. You and I may have had our differences, but one thing I am sure of is that you love Harry and want him to be safe."

"There is another reason," Morrigan said shrewdly.

"If I speak badly of you, Harry may think I am putting you down to make myself look better in his eyes. I want him to form his own opinion of you and he seems to have a pretty good one of you to start with."

Morrigan was quiet for several long moments. "I missed so much," she said. "I didn't see him grow up. I didn't hear his first word."

"He summoned my Grandmothers spirit when he was two," Lily said gently.

A tear ran down Morrigan's cheek. "That's my boy."

"That wasn't his first summoning," Lily said quietly.

Morrigan raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"He summoned James after the attack."

Morrigan's eyes widened. "Truly? He summoned his Father?"

Lily nodded and began telling Morrigan of Harry's first ever summoning.

**HPSM**

Harry whimpered and snuggled closer to Lily on the couch. "Shh," she cooed. "It's alright love. Mummy's here."

"Daddy?" Harry asked.

Lily's throat tightened. "Daddy's gone," she choked.

Harry's lower lip trembled. "Daddy." His emerald green eyes turned an icy blue and began to glow.

A silvery white mist filled the room. The mist twisted and writhed, slowly forming the image of James Potter.

"James?" Lily whispered. "Is that really you?"

The image snapped into focus, turning from semi-transparent to a three-dimensional image. There was a thud as James's feet touched the floor and he straightened up.

"Bloody hell that hurt," he groaned.

Lily reached out to touch him. As her fingers touched his, a tingling sensation spread up her arm causing her to jerk her hand away.

"I'm still dead love," James said. "I think this is Harry's power's way of letting us say good-bye."

"How am I supposed to do this alone," Lily said, tears filling her eyes.

"You know people," James said gently. "These people are qualified to help you teach Harry how to control his gifts. Besides, you'll see me again." He grinned. "Hopefully not for a long time though. Look, you need to move on, find new love and be happy."

"James," Lily said shocked. "You just died and you're already telling me to go and shag someone else?"

"Of course not," James said indignantly. "But I don't want you thinking I would've wanted you to be miserable your whole life. Life may be over for me, but you still have one and I want you to live it."

"Would you really want me to marry someone else?"

"If I'm honest, if I was alive, it would hurt, but I'm dead. It would be selfish of me to want you to stay a widow your whole life now wouldn't it?"

Lily reached out and wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the tingling sensation. "I'm going to miss you."

"And I'm going to miss you," James said kissing her forehead. His image began to dissolve. "I'll be watching," he said his voice becoming fainter with each word. "Never forget that I love you."

Lily watched until her husband had completely faded into nothingness. "I love you too," she whispered. She looked down at her sleeping son.

What would his future hold? Just how powerful was he going to become?"

She lay back down on the sofa, wrapping her arms around him. "Thank you," she said kissing the top of his head. Within a few moments, she had drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

**HPSM**

"Why didn't you?" Morrigan asked.

"Hmm?"

"Get married again?"

Lily shrugged. "Never found the right guy I guess."

"And Sirius and Remus? Why didn't you keep in contact with them?"

"We just drifted apart," she explained. "They were more James's friends than mine and after I moved to the mundane world we never had the time to meet up."

"But you remembered enough about Remus's condition to insure he had a steady job all these years."

"It wasn't his fault he's a werewolf. I never thought it was right how the magical world treated them."

Morrigan smiled. "You and I aren't that different. Both of us fought for what we believed in and both would die to protect those we care about."

"If you'd stop trying to steal my son we could probably be friends," Lily said sharply.

"If our positions were reversed, wouldn't you want to see your son?" Morrigan asked. "Wouldn't you want to watch him grow and teach him how to be the best that he can be?"

"Yeah, but you hate humans," Lily snapped. "And don't forget, our son is half human."

"I don't hate humans," Morrigan said quietly. "I just don't like modern day humans. Look around you girl, how many murderers are in prison right now and yet your crime rate has not gone down one iota. Your politicians can blame everything they want to, but the fact of the matter is that those that murder would do so whether they had a gun, knife, or bomb. They don't fear prison."

"SO you would recommend the death penalty?" Lily said angrily. "How does that make us any better than the murderers you want to condemn?"

"Your society doesn't value life," Morrigan shot back. "Hell, they condone the murder of the innocent, something I might remind you that my people never did. The fae may be guilty of many things, but we never harmed children." True, they were sacrificed in some cultures, but we never advocated that in ours."

Lily opened her mouth and then shut it again. Morrigan was right. Her people had never harmed children. Finally, she looked the other woman right in the eye. "You are judging our entire race on the actions of some."

"Your race does the same. How many of you hold a grudge over things written in the history books? Our races are similar in one respect, they both hold on to slights like a magpie collects shiny objects."

Lily leaned back in her chair. "So you admit you don't like humans?"

"I said I didn't like modern humans. Don't forget that my people bred with yours for a long time. Humans do have honor, courage, and are capable of nobility. These are qualities that my people value more than silver or gold."

"So what do we do now?" Lily asked.

"I think a good start would be just talking. Once you and I have come to an agreement, then we can decide what to do about Harry."

Lily nodded. "I can go along with that."

"Good," Morrigan said. The room around them began to shimmer and fade. As Lily felt herself drifting towards consciousness, Morrigan's voice echoed in the room.

"Oh yeah, one last thing. Watch out for Malfoy, he can be tricky."

"Malfoy?" Lily called. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see," Morrigan called. "Just be careful how you spin your story."

Before Lily could say anything, she felt Harry shaking her shoulder.

"Mum?" he called.

**HPSM**

Lily snapped awake and sat up. "Harry? What's wrong?"

"Dumbledore is here. He says he needs us. Apparently, Lucius Malfoy and the minister of magic are here to expel Ginny."

"Ginny?"

"The girl that was possessed."

Lily got out of bed and quickly got dressed. "Come on," she said walking towards the door.

"What are we going to do?" Harry asked running to keep up with her.

"Improvise," Lily called over her shoulder.

**HPSM**

"See here Dumbledore," Fudge, the minister of magic blustered. "I agree it is not her fault, but the fact remains that she was possessed and was a significant danger to the other students."

"Quite," Lucius Malfoy said brushing his fingers through his white blond hair. "What if you hadn't contained her or worse, what if she'd escaped?"

Dumbledore held up a bronze coin with a strange rune carved into it. "We have established that this was the cause of her possession. Somehow Ms. Weasley came into possession of this coin which contained a demon that possessed her."

"Contained?" Lucius Malfoy asked. "Where is it now?"

"We got rid of it," Lily said entering the office followed by Harry and Hermione.

"And you are?"

"Lily Evans," Lily said. "Dumbledore called me in to help with Ginny's problem.

"That's a mild way of putting it. Problem? The girl was possessed."

"Which as Dumbledore has pointed out, was not her fault. However, I can see that neither you nor your little lapdog minister are willing to listen to reason. So, I have already taken Hermione Granger here under my wing. I see no reason I cannot tutor Ms. Weasley as well."

"An excellent idea," Dumbledore said smiling broadly. He looked to Cornelius. "Is this satisfactory to you?"

Fudge scowled. "I suppose that will do. At least the child can still obtain a magical education and the students will not be in any danger." He turned to Lucius. "Does this address all of your concerns?"

Lucius nodded reluctantly. "Alright," he said shortly. "If that is all, I must leave. I have other matters I must address."

"I must leave as well," Fudge said pompously. "Dumbledore, I will be in touch."

Dumbledore nodded and waited until the door had closed behind the two men before turning to Lily. "I appreciate you taking Ms. Weasley with you. I have a favor to ask."

"Oh?" Lily arched one crimson eyebrow.

"I need you to take Luna Lovegood with you as well. She is not fitting in as well as I'd hoped here."

"Alright," Lily said without hesitation. "If her Mother agrees, I'll be happy to take her."

"Thank you," Dumbledore said relieved. "Come, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley are in the hospital wing. No doubt they are anxiously awaiting the results of this meeting."

**HPSM**

"And there is no other way," Mrs. Weasley said dabbing at her eyes.

"I am afraid not. Had Lily not intervened, Ms. Weasley would've been expelled and her wand would've been snapped.

Before Mrs. Weasley could say anything, Mr. Weasley spoke up.

"Thank you Albus," he said smiling in relief. He turned to his wife. "At least she will be home with you. That is something to look forward to."

Mrs. Weasley smiled at Lily. "Thank you. I would've hated to lose my little girl."

Lily nodded to the older redhead. "I'll meet with Ms. Weasley tomorrow. Is that satisfactory?"

"Of course," Mr. Weasley said happily. "We'll see you then.

Lily turned towards the door. "Until then." She left the room without looking back.

**HPSM**

Grindelwald glared at Morrigan. "If you were going to make contact with him on your own, why did you approach me?"

Morrigan shrugged. "This was a whim. I didn't know if it would work. It turns out, Lily is far more agreeable than I had anticipated."

"Which is why you've arranged with Nicholas for her to be protected."

"Perhaps I have mellowed a bit over the years," Morrigan said casually, "but little as I like it, Lily is Harry's Mother just as much as I am. She may not be of his blood, but she has given birth to him and raised him."

"So what does that mean for our arrangement?" Grindelwald snarled.

"I will still help you. Mostly because I see no other option for the magical world. They are beset by wolves on all sides and they know it not. They need a strong leader if they are to survive. I would not see the wizards of this world die out if I can help it."

"Why do you fear humanity so much?"

"Because humanity can so easily turn on each other."

"So what now?"

"Now we continue as we have in the past. There is work to be done and little time in which to do it."

Grindelwald smiled. It was a mere movement of lips. The smile came nowhere close to his cold blue eyes.

"Then let us begin," he whispered.