Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Lily and Petunia or any other characters you may recognize throughout this story. I also don't own the wizarding world or basically anything else you recognize from the Harry Potter series. That all belongs to the wonderful goddess of writing, J.K. Rowling. So don't sue me!
As always special thanks to my beta: LauraKay
A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the wait on this update as well. I really tried to be quicker, but it didn't quite work out. Anyway, I got a whole huge pile of reviews this time, so I'll just get right to them.
Rebecca Lynn: I'm glad you liked this chapter better than the last one. And I'm glad you thought the pensieve idea was creative. I was a little nervous about that. I hope you like this chapter. We get to see a lot more Petunia again.
Urges: I'm glad you liked the speech . . . I actually cried a little when I was writing it, mostly because I was thinking about how much I miss my high school. As for your technical question, what I do is bold it in my actual writing and then when I upload it, I click the little button that lets you edit it and I just copy and paste the story. As for the lines, there's a button in the editing option on that inserts it for you. I hope that didn't sound too confusing. Hopefully you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
Lovely-Lina1985: I'm glad you liked this chapter and that I could make you laugh so much. I just love Sirius. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until next chapter to see Lily and Vernon meeting, because this chapter ran so long that I had to bump it. I'll try to make it extra good though so the wait is worth it. Hope you like this chapter though, even without the anticipated meeting.
OofTheLivingDead: Hee hee, Sirius' prank seems to have been a big hit. And I'm glad you liked James' and Lily's speech. And hopefully this was soonish enough of an update (and whoa that's a horrible sentence!)
Ruby Chubb: I think it's a unanimous decision that Sirius' prank was the best part of that chapter. I'm glad you liked it. Hopefully you like this chapter, too.
Aquariusbaby205: You confused me for a minute there! I'll have to remember that you're you! They've done the video thing at my graduations in the past, too . . . that's where I got the idea from. I'm glad you liked it. Hope you like this chapter.
Alicia: I'm glad you liked the Quidditch match. I'm always nervous about that, so it's nice to hear that it's liked. I wish I had a pensieve, too . . . if only so I could remember things better. As for the 1977 graduation year, I don't know that for sure. But this entire story has been running off the presumed time line that Lily and the others were born in 1959. I've just always had it in my head that Lily would have Harry when she's 21 and she dies when she's 22. Plus the way I have the Weasley time line set up puts Bill starting Hogwarts in the 1976-1977 school year, which was this final school year. Hopefully that makes sense. I actually plan to put a time line of events up after I finish this story, just so people can have a reference.
Lion of Gryffindor: Your praise is almost too much . . . almost being the operative word! :) I'm glad that you don't mind the slow updates. It's not even that the muses aren't there, it's just that I don't have time to write. I've been blessed with a bit of time recently though, so we'll see how this next update goes. I'm looking forward to writing James' and Lily's wedding as well as some other weddings as well. Rookwood will be addressed at some point, I'm not sure when. And I'm glad you like James' and Lily's relationship. Since I got together with my boyfriend, they have begun to slightly resemble us, so hopefully that will work out okay. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
BeCkY6: Now that's what I call a short, but sweet review! Thanks, hope you like this chapter.
Natalie: Honesty is great. I'm glad you liked the cheese. I hope you like this chapter . . . don't worry, it lacks cheese.
LauraKay: Hey beta buddy! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. You appear to have experienced all the emotions I wanted you to experience, so yay! One of Remus' secrets will be revealed this chapter, though I'm sure you were on to this one already. As for the Squibs seeing Dementors thing, I don't think they can. I think it's implied in OoTP that Mrs. Figg is lying when she said she could see them. However, I may or may not have Petunia be able to see them, because, as you'll see in this chapter especially, Petunia is no ordinary Squib!
Radioactivekitten: Sorry I made you wait for the last chapter, and this one for that matter. I'll try to be better with my updates, but I can't make any promises. Believe me, I seriously considered skipping the Quidditch match, as I've skipped just about every other one in the story so far, but I decided that I would have to write one sooner or later, so why not now. I'm glad you appreciated it. Agh, rabid monkeys! Those are actually kind of cool though! Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
Gangtsagirl15: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, this one has a lot of plot too, so hopefully you'll like it. As for how far I'm taking this story through to Lily's and James' deaths and a little bit beyond. So, I basically have four more years of their lives to write.
Bernie: I'm glad you didn't think it was too cheesy and I'm glad you liked the Vernon and Petunia mentions. They get skipped in this chapter, but they'll pop back up in the next.
Dumb Brunette: Wow, I feel kind of mean writing that name. Ah, Petunia's loathing of magic will be explained in the near future. I can't believe I'm within reach of the end of this story. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Rinnington: Well, you just summarized the whole rest of the story in that little review! :) Seriously, I made a list of everything I have to include and just about all of that was on there. Nice work! Don't worry though, I'll throw you a few curve balls too, so it won't be completely predictable! Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
Iloveit: You asked for more, and here is more!
OutofAzkaban: Welcome to my story, I'm glad you like it. I don't know how far you've gotten, but this will be here for whenever you get to this point. As for your comment made in chapter three, I am well aware that Lily's hair is red and her eyes are green, which is why in that exact chapter I say "She had dark red hair that seemed to attract everyone's attention. But even more brilliant than her hair were her eyes. She had the clearest emerald green eyes that a person would ever see." So I don't know where you read that I described her in any other way. Please point it out to me so that I may fix it. And the character was not Rabastan, because I had introduced him previously to chapter eleven. If you've read up to this point you've probably figured out by now that I was talking about Professor Meadowes. If you have no idea where she's from in Harry Potter, go back and read some of the Author's Notes! Well, you've only reviewed up to chapter eleven, so hopefully you'll make it here eventually. Hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
Krisalyn: Aw, don't give up on Severus . . . there's hope for him yet. Anyway, I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope you like this one too.
And now . . . on with the story!
Chapter 36: Preparing for Battle
"It looks nice, doesn't it?" Lily said, grinning at her sister and James as she put up the last picture in her room.
"Give it ten minutes and it will look more like you actually live here . . . you know, after you've made it the pigsty we're all used to," Petunia said.
"I'm not that messy," Lily said, sticking out her lower lip in a world class pout.
James pulled her into a hug and said, "Yes you are, but it's okay, we love you and your messes."
Lily pushed him away, still grinning. She couldn't believe that she was officially moved in and out on her own. She had a flat with her sister, and it was all theirs. She couldn't be happier. Well, actually, there was one thing that was keeping her from being really happy.
"So when are you and Sirius leaving?"
"Tomorrow morning," James said sadly, avoiding Lily's eyes.
She knew why he didn't want to look at her. Whenever Lily thought about the fact that she and James would be apart for four months while he was away for his Auror training, she nearly broke down.
It wasn't that Lily was one of those girls who had to be with her boyfriend all the time; it was just that for the past six months she had been with him all the time, so it would be a big adjustment for her to be away from him.
"But everyone is still planning to come over tonight, right? We're having the big send off?" Petunia asked, trying to change the subject slightly. She hated seeing her sister so sad.
"Yeah. Peter leaves for conditioning in a few days, and Remus said that he's going to be leaving for a few weeks tomorrow as well. Oh, I've been meaning to tell you both, he said he has some big announcement or something," James said, choking up a bit as he realized that his group of best friends was being separated.
"Announcement? What announcement?" Lily said, jerking her head up to look at James. Her eyes were shining with such curious intensity that James was almost afraid.
"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me. He said we'd all find out tonight."
"This is it!" Lily said, nearly jumping up and down in excitement. "He's finally going to let us in on the secret. I know it!"
Petunia and James just rolled their eyes and began walking out of the room.
"You know what Lily? You are utterly hopeless," Petunia said shaking her head as she left.
"What?" Lily asked, confused.
As Petunia sat in the dining room surrounded by her friends, she found herself getting excited about her upcoming magic lessons again. At first Petunia had wanted to jump right into them, but the more she thought about them, the more she wanted to put them off.
So she had. It had been almost two months since her meeting with Dumbledore and they had yet to set a date for her first lesson. More than anything Petunia was afraid that the lessons would be a waste of time and she would never be able to do any magic. Lily had been on her case to just start the lessons, but Petunia still wasn't sure.
However, now as she sat in a room with all of her friends who were now certified witches and wizards, she wanted more than ever before to be able to be one of them.
"Sirius, must you use magic to do everything? I mean, you could have just asked me to pass the potatoes," Lily said, ducking as Sirius levitated to bowl across the room.
"Now where's the fun in that?" Sirius replied, grinning.
"I guess there isn't any really. But, speaking of fun, you know what is fun? Announcements. Didn't you say that you had an announcement to make, Remus?" Lily said.
"Subtle Lily, very subtle," Petunia said, shaking her head at her sister's insatiable curiosity.
Remus looked up with a smile on his face. It was the first time Petunia had seen him smile since he had walked in the door. Most of the evening he had maintained a very serious expression.
"You know Lily, that's what I love about you. I've been sitting here trying to figure out how to bring up my announcement, when all I had to do was wait for your curiosity to get the best of you."
Lily shrugged, unembarrassed. "Well, go ahead and tell us then."
Remus cleared his throat and stood up. To Petunia's surprise, Frank stood up as well. Next to him, Alice looked at him strangely, obviously unaware that he was involved in whatever it was Remus was about to tell them.
"I'm pretty sure all of you know that I'm leaving tomorrow, but none of you know why. I can't tell you exactly what I will be doing, but I can tell you it has to do with The Order of the Phoenix."
Remus paused and looked around to see if that name meant anything to anyone. Judging the looks on everyone's faces, Petunia figured they were as clueless as she was.
"I'm not surprised that none of you have heard of it. After all, Dumbledore is a very secretive man," Remus said.
With that statement, recognition began to cross the others' faces. Petunia, however, was still rather confused.
"He asked you to join? When?" James spoke up, looking at his friend in awe.
"Uh, hi. Anyone mind explaining what the Order of the Phoenix is to the Squib?" Petunia said.
"The Order of the Phoenix is what Dumbledore calls the group of witches and wizards who are working to fight Voldemort," Frank said.
"Wait a minute!" Alice said, standing up and looking Frank in the eye. "You're a part of this organization then? Since when? And how come you never told me?"
Frank sighed and said, "Since I graduated from Hogwarts, and I never told you because the Order is very secretive. We don't want anyone to know exactly who is a part of it."
"Well then why are you telling us about it now?" Peter spoke up suddenly.
Petunia nodded, thinking that was a very good question.
"Well, as I was saying before we got sidetracked," Remus said, getting everyone's attention once again, "I'm going to be leaving on a mission for the Order tomorrow. But first I am supposed to recruit all of you to join the team."
Silence engulfed the room upon this announcement. Petunia was particularly shocked. Dumbledore wanted her, a woman with no real magical ability, to join him in fighting Voldemort. What help could she really be?
Before Petunia could get too far into her thoughts, though, Sirius broke the silence.
"Wait just one minute. Why are you already a member? What makes you so special that you were asked to join before the rest of us?"
Remus grinned at his friend and said, "I knew you would be the one to point that out. Dumbledore told me about the Order the day that all of you were meeting with your future bosses. As a werewolf, I don't have many options when it comes to career paths. For all of you, working for the Order will be a volunteer thing. For me, it's my job."
Amelia turned to Remus and grabbed his hand, "This is a really dangerous job, isn't it?"
Remus bit his lip and said, "It's really no more dangerous that being an Auror."
"Hey!" Alice and Lily said in unison.
"Great job there, Remus. Like I really want Lily to start worrying about me again," James said.
"Tell me about it," Frank said under his breath.
"So, what exactly do we do in the Order?" Peter asked, bringing everyone back to the subject at hand.
"Whatever Dumbledore needs. We have weekly meetings and he assigns missions. Sometimes it's spy stuff, sometimes we might have to guard something or retrieve something that the other side wants. It really depends."
"It sounds like Auror stuff," James said.
"Well for you and Sirius, it will be. Most of the people in the Order are Aurors, and your training will come in handy for any missions he may send you on," Frank said.
As the conversation continued, Petunia was falling deeper and deeper into thought. She was wondering if maybe Remus wasn't meant to tell her about the Order and he had made a mistake. Then again, why would he have waited until they were all at her house to make the announcement then? She began wondering what help she could be if she was in fact meant to join the Order.
"Hey Petunia, are you okay?" Alice asked.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm fine," Petunia said, shaking herself out of her thoughts to see that everyone was looking at her. "I was just wondering what Dumbledore had in mind for me to do."
Remus shrugged and said, "I'm not sure. But I know he specifically told me to make sure you were around when I made the announcement. He wants you in the Order."
Petunia's eyes went wide in shock. Not only was it not a mistake that she was told about the Order, but Dumbledore had made sure that she would be recruited. As everyone else continued questioning Remus and Frank about the Order, Petunia found herself wondering why Dumbledore thought she was so special.
"Does this outfit make me look sane?" Lily asked, standing in Petunia's bedroom doorway.
"Well, if a Muggle were to see you, they would probably think you were insane. But to anyone who is used to seeing wizarding robes, you look perfectly sane," Petunia answered, trying her best to hold in her smile.
Lily's psychological evaluation was that day and she was extremely nervous. She knew that she was a sane person and that she didn't have any sadistic tendencies or anything like that, but this was her dream job, and she was afraid of losing it for something stupid like being deemed insane.
More than anything, Lily wished that James could have been there for her. He always managed to calm her down when she was freaking out. Unfortunately, James had left for Auror boot camp three days ago. She already missed him like crazy, but had been keeping busy reading every book on Charms she had in her personal library. She figured if she failed the psychological evaluation, she could always try to convince them that her amazing Charm abilities were worth the risk.
"So what exactly do you think they're going to do for this evaluation of yours?" Petunia asked, while tidying up her room.
Lily looked at her sister for a moment, amazed that she could always manage to find something else to clean in her impeccably clean room. She shook herself out of her awe and shrugged her shoulders.
"I really have no idea. They'll probably make me take some kind of written test, some kind of physical test, and they might just have a shrink talk to me or something."
"Well, just don't mention the fact that you are the nosiest person alive, and how you'll stop at nothing to discover a secret if someone keeps it from you."
"I am not that bad, and if I did admit that then they might as well point me out the door, because I'd have to be insane to tell my employers that. I mean, The Department of Mysteries is all about secrets. I can't tell them that I hate people keeping secrets from me."
"Very true. Now I have a question for you. If you were an eighteen year old Squib about to get your first wand, would you wear this?" Petunia asked, holding up a light blue sun dress.
Lily stared at her sister for a moment in shock. Had she just said . . .
"Did you just say that you're getting a wand?"
Petunia finally unleashed the very large grin she had been hiding and nodded. She launched herself at her sister and trapped her in a bone-crushing hug while jumping up and down.
"Can you believe it? I received an owl from Dumbledore this morning. I'm supposed to floo to Hogwarts and he's going to have Ollivander bring a bunch of his wands with him. I can't actually go to the store, because Dumbledore doesn't want anyone to know about my lessons, but I'm going to have a wand, Lily. My very own wand."
Lily grinned at Petunia as she continued to prattle on about her wand. Lily remembered the day that she realized she would be getting her very own wand and she smiled at the memory. That had been one of the happiest moments of her life and she was so glad that Petunia was finally getting to experience that moment for herself.
"Look at us Petunia. You're on your way to getting a degree in Psychology and you're learning magic. I'm going to be working at my dream job . . . "
"And you're dating your dream man," Petunia interrupted with a sly grin.
Lily blushed and then added, "But you're not exactly doing too bad in that category are you. You have the elusive Vernon Dursley. When am I going to get to meet this fellow anyway?"
"He's been away on business. I think he's getting back the day after tomorrow. I'll invite him over for dinner and you two can meet. Oh Lily, you're going to love him. I just know it."
"Well, if you love him, then I'm sure I will too," Lily said smiling at her sister.
She couldn't help but think that things were practically perfect for the flower twins right now.
Three hours later, as Lily sat in the Department of Mysteries taking a seemingly pointless test, she was beginning to think things were not perfect.
The test wasn't hard; it was just a bunch of questions about herself. But she could not figure out how it was going to help her supervisors determine whether or not she was fit to work there.
Lily could not understand why the Ministry wanted to know what her favorite color was (yellow), or what kind of animal she would be if given the chance (a cheetah), or what her favorite book was (Persuasion by Jane Austen).
But she just continued to answer the questions and when she was finished she handed her test to Rookwood. He looked it over briefly and Lily waited with bated breath. He glanced at her for a moment, his expression revealing nothing, before taking out his wand and tapping the paper.
"Acclaro Sanitas," the wizard muttered. He looked at the paper for a moment before handing it over to Lily with a smile. "Congratulations. This questionnaire reveals that you are sane enough to go on to the next test."
Lily took the paper and saw that it did in fact declare her as 95% sane. She figured that was a pretty good score. After all, who wasn't at least 5% insane?
Rookwood ushered her through a door at the back of the room. As soon as she had stepped through, the door shut with a bang and Lily found herself in total darkness.
"Well, this is just wonderful," Lily said, taking out her wand. "Lumos."
She swept her wand around the room, trying to discern any doors or passages that would take her out of there. She was turning very slowly in circles when she heard a scratching sound coming from the corner behind her. She whipped around, but saw nothing.
"Get a grip, Lily. They're trying to gauge whether or not you're insane. Hearing things isn't a good way to prove your sanity," Lily paused for a moment. "Come to think of it, talking to yourself probably doesn't look too good either."
Once again, Lily heard scratching behind her and she spun on her heel. And once again there was nothing there.
"Oh, enough of this . . . Dilucesco," Lily said, pointing her wand in the air and causing a large sun to appear overhead.
The moment she had done it, she wished she hadn't. In the light of the sun, she could see that she was surrounded by at least a dozen hooded figures.
Death Eaters.
The sun disappeared as Lily saw the robed witches and wizards closing in on her. She fired off as many spells as she could, but due to the fact that she was severely outnumbered, she knew that she had no chance.
As the men and women in black closed in on her, she could only hope that this was a part of the test and that the Ministry had not been breached.
Petunia sat in Dumbledore's office trying very hard not to fidget, but finding that extremely difficult.
Mr. Ollivander was due to arrive any moment and Petunia was getting more and more nervous. She couldn't stop focusing on the very real possibility that none of the wands would work for her. Dumbledore was under the firm belief that Petunia had the magical ability to work a wand, but she wasn't so sure.
Petunia was just at the point where she thought her leg would detach itself from her body, it was shaking so much, when Mr. Ollivander appeared in Dumbledore's fireplace. To Petunia's shock, he was followed by no less than two dozen house elves carrying huge piles of wands.
Normally it took a witch or wizard several tries before he or she found the right wand, but Petunia felt a little intimidated by the number of wands in front of her.
"Ah, thank you for coming, Ernest. I know that you would rather do this in your shop with your full stock of wands, but you understand the need for secrecy, I'm sure," Dumbledore said, drawing a chair in the air for Mr. Ollivander to sit in.
"Of course, of course, Albus. I'm always eager to discover which wand chooses which witch or wizard, and this is a special situation indeed," Ollivander said. Then he turned his gaze to Petunia and said, "Ah, Miss Evans, I presume. You have a younger sister, Lily? Willow, 10 1/4 inches, swishy, good for charm work."
Petunia nodded in awe.
"Excuse me, sir, do you remember every wand you've ever sold?"
Ollivander nodded and said, "Give me a name, I'll tell you their wand."
"James Potter?"
"Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable, excellent for transfiguration."
"Sirius Black?"
"Holly, 12 inches, unicorn hair, I recall that his wand was also very partial towards transfiguration."
There was one more person that Petunia wished to question Ollivander about, but it was still painful for her to talk about him. However, her curiosity got the best of her.
"Severus Snape?"
Ollivander paused for a moment as a strange shadow passed over his face.
"Ah, young Mr. Snape. I remember his visit vividly. His was one of the more difficult visits I had ever had. I must have gone through every wand in the shop before his wand found him. It's the only one of it's kind I've ever made. I remember that it didn't have a special affinity towards any subject, and as I understand it, Mr. Snape is partial to the wandless art of Potions, correct?"
Petunia merely nodded, eager to hear what was so special about Severus' wand.
"Yes, Severus Snape. Oak, 11 ½ inches, with a core made up of a scale off a Dementor's hand."
The gasp caught in Petunia's throat as she stared at Ollivander in shock. She couldn't believe what he had just said. The magical core of Severus' wand was taken from one of the darkest creatures known to the wizarding world.
"But Mr. Ollivander, how did you obtain such a core, and what possessed you to make a wand with it?"
"It was one of my very first wands, my dear. I was young and impulsive. I wanted to expand the world of wands to include every kind of creature imaginable. However, my meeting with that Dementor nearly cost me my soul, and so I never attempted another wand like that again. I thought the wand would remain in my possession forever, until young Mr. Snape walked through my doors."
Petunia sat in awe, taking it all in. She wondered why Severus never mentioned his unique wand core, and what exactly it implied. What exactly was Severus' wand capable of?
She was brought out of her thoughts though as Ollivander pulled a tape measurerer out of his bag and began taking Petunia's measurements. After every inch of her body had been measured the slightly offbeat wizard began placing wand after wand in Petunia's hands.
After half an hour, Petunia was ready to give up. They had gone through every wand that Ollivander had brought and things were not looking good.
"Miss Evans, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" Ollivander asked, taking a seat across from where Petunia had slumped to the ground.
"I don't see how it will do any good, but go ahead," Petunia said, feeling about ready to cry.
She had been so excited about getting a wand, but she should have known better. She was a Squib, and Squibs did not belong with wands.
"I understand that you have the ability to control brooms, is that correct?"
Petunia nodded.
"And you had a certain affinity towards potions as well?"
Once again, Petunia nodded, not sure where the strange wizard was going with this.
"Why do you want to do magic?"
Petunia was caught off guard by this question. There were so many reasons that she wanted to do magic, the strongest being that she wanted to be able to protect herself. But she knew that there was something deeper than that.
"Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of being able to do magic. Even when my Mom told me that I would most likely never become a witch, I still read as many magic books as I could get my hands on. I wanted to absorb everything. I wanted to be able to make the world a better place. I think that's what magic does. I think it's a shame that we have to keep magic secret from the Muggles, because we could make so many people's lives better if we let them into our world. That's what magic does, or what it should do anyway."
Ollivander nodded, taking in what Petunia had said, and after a long pause, turned to Dumbledore and said, "Just one final thing may help me determine which wand would be best for Miss Evans. I have three in mind, but one in particular. I want to see if I'm correct in my assumption."
Dumbledore nodded and said, "How may I help?"
"Could I borrow the Sorting Hat for just a moment?"
For a moment, Dumbledore looked at Ollivander with a quizzical expression on his face, before understanding took its place.
"Of course, Ernest, of course. A brilliant idea, if I may say so."
Petunia was thoroughly confused, but soon realized that they wanted her to try the Sorting Hat on. Her heart caught in her chest as she realized that this was the closest to getting sorted that she would ever get to experience. She would finally find out which house she truly belonged in.
As the hat fell down over her eyes, she waited for the voice that everyone had told her about, and sure enough, there it was.
Hmm, what have we here. We are not at a sorting ceremony, and you are far too old to be sorted. And what is this? Why, I believe you are the first non witch or wizard I have had the pleasure of meeting. But I certainly wouldn't call you non-magical. You have a lot of magic in you, Miss Evans. I see that you don't believe it, and it seems that part of you doesn't even want it to be there. You're afraid of the power you may be able to attain, but you're more afraid of not being able to protect yourself . . . and your sister. Ah, the younger Miss Evans. I remember her. She was the truest Gryffindor I have had the pleasure of meeting in a long time. But that's certainly not the house for you. I can sense bravery in here, but you're not the 'jump into the action' type. You would prefer to find out as much information as possible first before making any decisions. Yes, Miss Petunia Evans, you have always been correct in your assumptions. You are most certainly a . . . RAVENCLAW.
Petunia pulled the hat off her head and grinned at the two wizards in front of her. Ravenclaw, the hat had said she was a Ravenclaw. Just like her dad.
"It is just as I suspected. If you two would wait one moment, I will be back shortly," Ollivander said, disappearing into the fireplace.
Petunia waited much more patiently this time. She didn't know why, but she truly believed that Mr. Ollivander would be coming back with her wand. She would finally have a wand of her own.
A few minutes passed, and Ollivander returned to Dumbledore's office. He had a beautiful wand with him, which he delicately handed to Petunia.
As soon as the wand was in her hand, Petunia felt a warmth flow through her body. Her breath caught in her throat and she gasped as a shower of orange sparks erupted from the wand.
Ollivander smiled, making him look even more creepy than usual. "I believe we have found a match."
"What kind of wand is this?" Petunia asked, still staring at it in wonder.
"That is one of the rarest wands I have ever made. It is Willow, like your sister's, 10 inches, and it has a very special core. There are only three other wands in existence with a similar core, and even each of those are unique."
Petunia waited patiently, knowing that the wand maker was enjoying leaving her in suspense.
"That wand has the hair of a witch at it's core."
"A witch? But . . . I don't understand."
"There are four wands in existence that have the hair of a human in them. Two with hairs from men, and two with hairs from women."
"Would they be anyone I have heard of?" Petunia asked.
"Oh yes, you have heard of them. That right there has the hair of Rowena Ravenclaw in it."
Petunia looked at Ollivander in shock. He couldn't possibly be telling the truth. Rowena Ravenclaw lived a thousand years before their time. And if the implications were what Petunia thought, there were three other wands out there with hairs from Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin.
"But, how could you have those hairs? They lived so long ago."
To answer, Ollivander picked up his bag and turned it so that Petunia could read the engraving: Ollivander's–Maker's of Fine Wands since 382 B.C.
"This shop has been in my family for more than two millennia. One of my ancestors realized that those four were possibly the greatest witches and wizards to ever live and thought it would be a great idea to make wands with them in the core. And finally, Miss Ravenclaw has found a home with you."
"But, you said you had three wands in mind for me. I assume you were thinking one of the founders' wands would work for me . . ."
"Yes, because you are not technically a witch, so maybe a wand from a witch or wizard would give you that extra boost that you needed."
"But then why did you say only three? Have one of the other founder's wands been sold already?"
A small smile appeared on Ollivander's face as he said, "Yes, I had the pleasure of selling that one myself. And today I have sold my second."
Petunia smiled.
Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "I hate to rush you Miss Evans, but I actually want to have a word with Mr. Ollivander in private. Would you mind terribly going down and meeting Professor McGonagall? She will summon the Knight Bus for you, or if you prefer, you may use her fireplace to floo home."
"That's no problem at all Professor. You have already done so much for me today."
Petunia prepared herself to leave and was just about to close the door behind her when a thought crossed her mind.
She poked her head back inside and said, "Mr. Ollivander, one more question, if I may . . . Albus Dumbledore?"
Both Ollivander and Dumbledore smiled widely.
"You most certainly are a Ravenclaw, Miss Evans. Albus Dumbledore, Holly, 14 3/4 inches, very springy, with a hair from the head of Godric Gryffindor."
Lily sat in the chair the men and women had tied her to as one wizard approached her. She tried her best to keep a defiant smirk on her face, when really she wanted to cry.
"Miss Evans, we meet at last. Many of my fellow Death Eaters have spoken very highly of you. I've been told you can hold your own in a battle."
"Why don't you untie these ropes and you'll see my dueling capabilities first hand," Lily spat out, trying to loosen her ropes without anyone seeing.
"Well it would be very hard to duel without your wand, wouldn't it?" the wizard said, holding Lily's wand out in front of him.
She hadn't even noticed when it had been taken from her. She suddenly felt a great dread wash over her as she realized this was probably it. She would never see her family and friends again. She would never be able to tell James how much she truly loved him.
The tears began welling up in her eyes, but she bit her lip and fought them back. She refused to let these monsters see her cry.
Her best hope of survival was to keep them talking. Maybe someone would realize that she was in trouble. She was fairly certain she was still in the Ministry, but there was really no way of knowing.
"So how did you manage to break into the Ministry?" Lily asked conversationally, trying to keep all hints of fear out of her voice.
"Oh, we have our ways. Not all Death Eaters wear masks. To think that we don't have our own spies would be absurd."
A spy. But that would mean that the people administering the test were in on it. And Rookwood was the one who had locked her in here. Could he possibly be a Death Eater?
"So, what exactly do you want from me? That's a lot of trouble to go through just to capture me. After all, I'm just a recently graduated Hogwarts student. I'm no one important," Lily said, though she could think of a reason or two that would explain why she was a target.
"You have powerful and mysterious friends, Miss Evans, that's all you need to know. Tell me, where is your sister right now?"
An instant dread washed through Lily as the implied threat hit home. What would he do to Petunia if she didn't cooperate? She realized that Petunia was at Hogwarts, and therefore very safe, but what would happen once she left?
"What do you want with Petunia? You know if you hurt her, I'll kill you."
"Empty threats coming from the girl tied to the chair, but I can see where your heart truly lies. So I'll make a deal with you. Tell me what kind of projects you will be working on in the Department of Mysteries, and I will promise that neither you nor your sister will be harmed during this war."
Lily actually laughed as she said, "If you think I believe that, then you must think I'm dumber than you look in that awful mask. You'd kill me and Petunia as soon as you had a chance. Besides, I can't tell you anything . . . I don't know anything. Not that I would tell you if I did."
"Liar!" the wizard yelled, slamming his fist into the wall beside him. "I know you know what goes on down there, and you will tell me immediately."
Lily was beginning to understand exactly what was going on, and her wrists were beginning to hurt as well, so she tilted her head and stared straight at the wizard.
"I've figured it out, and I'd like it very much if you would untie me now."
"Figured what out, you silly little girl?"
"That this is one of the tests. I assume you wanted to test my loyalty as well as see how I would hold up in extreme circumstances. Don't worry, I would never divulge information to dirty Death Eaters no matter what they threatened. I know that telling them anything would just lead to more death and destruction."
Suddenly the lights in the room turned on and Lily could see who was standing in front of her: Broderick Bode.
"Mr. Bode, why, I'm surprised I didn't recognize your voice," Lily said, a smile crossing her face.
"Well, considering your circumstances, I'd say that's understandable," Bode said, while untying Lily. "You did a wonderful job, I might add. You kept your cool and you didn't for a moment let me believe that you were going to tell me anything. I believe Mr. Rookwood has something he'd like to tell you."
Lily turned and saw Rookwood looking at her with a kind of respect in his eyes.
"Miss Evans, I'd like to officially welcome you to the Ministry of Magic, working in the Department of Mysteries, Top Secret Charms Division," he said, holding his hand out for Lily to shake.
As Lily shook his hand and said her thank you's, she was lost in her thoughts. She had a job, a career even, and maybe she would be able to make a difference in the fight against Voldemort.
A/N: Well, what did you guys think? Sorry this update took a while. I think the next one should be faster. I started the next chapter, but there's not really anything that lends itself to a teaser. So instead I'll just tell you what I have planned. Lily meets a coworker that some of you may recognize, Lily will meet Vernon, and we'll get a look at an actual Order meeting.
I recently sat down and really planned out the rest of this story. I have all the events listed in chronological order and then each group of events fit together into different chapters. If I end up following the plan, it looks like this story will be 53 chapters. So basically, I still have a whole lot of writing ahead of me. Oh, and just to give you guys an idea, two very sad things will be happening in chapters 39, 42. The secret you guys have been waiting for for a very long time will be in chapter 43. More sadness in 45 and the big huge twist, the event that this entire story has been based around will be in chapter 47.
So that's a rundown of what you have to look forward to. Hopefully I will be a better updater, but school is starting soon, so once again, I'm not making any promises.