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!
Thanks as always to my beautiful beta LauraKay. Unfortunately, she will be taking a sabbatical from being my beta, so I am in need of a new one. Interested? See my notes at the end of the story for more info.
A/N: I'm SO sorry for the long wait. I've just been so swamped with getting used to being back at school again. And for a while there I was depressed about being away from my boyfriend and just didn't feel like writing, and then when I did feel like writing I had writer's block. But then, this weekend my muse returned full force, and I basically wrote this whole chapter in two sittings. And it's a long one, so hopefully that makes up for it. Anyway, I will really, really try to be better about updating. I think my muse is back and I'm feeling motivated to write, so we'll see. Keep your fingers crossed. Anyway, I got an insane number of reviews this time . . . I think I have more than 400 reviews total now, which is just insane to me, so I should probably get to responding to those so you can read this long awaited chapter.
OofTheLivingDead: I'm glad you liked the chapter. The reason Petunia couldn't go to Diagon Alley is because no one is supposed to know she is learning magic, because that will just put more of a target on her back. And she's going to be learning to do magic now. She's still not a witch, so she won't ever really be able to do any big spells, but she will be learning as much as she can. And I'm glad you were tricked, even if it was just for a little while. I wanted the readers to be as scared as Lily was. Anyway, hope you like this chapter.
Light of Earendir: Hey, I don't recognize your name, so I think this is the first time you've reviewed. Though you seem to have been reading for a while, but still let me formally welcome you to my story. Cool name, by the way. I'm glad you liked the chapter and hopefully you like this one, too.
BaZoRRo: Hey! Welcome to my story. Glad to see that being in the Order brings new readers here. I'm glad that there is someone else out there who is obsessed with ages. Oh, and just so you know, I'm responding to all of your reviews in this, so sorry if it seems a little jumpy. Well, it really isn't that hard to make Sirius sound handsome, now is it? :) I'm glad you think the story seems real. I see you're a Sirius/Petunia fan. Hopefully you didn't get too mad at me when you got to the chapter where they broke up. And hopefully you could maybe begin to see her with Severus and understand why I think they are better for each other. I kind of tried to explain that, but I know it's hard to see poor Sirius get dumped. Oh and thanks for the heads up about putting Lestrange instead of Black back in chapter 12. I'll go look for that and change it at some point or another. Oh . . . you were so happy to see Sirius and Petunia together, I hope you weren't too upset when they broke up. And I see that you were . . . but hopefully you got over it. Yeah, Molly was the cameo that chapter. She was Molly Weasley. Though since then, Jo has told us that Molly's maiden name was Prewett, so I have to go back and change that, but she's still the cameo. I'm jawesome? That is so cool! Yay! You caught up! I'm glad you like Bill and how I write the characters. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the story and hope you like this chapter.
Lion of Gryffindor: Sorry I nearly gave you a heart attack. That was the desired effect though! And I'm glad you liked the wand core thing. I'm fairly certain strange wand cores like that don't actually exist in Jo's books, but I wanted to do something different. As for Severus' wand core, I have no idea where that came from, but something told me that that was what's in his wand. And I really have no idea how that will come into play yet, but I'm sure it will reveal itself to me eventually. Thanks for saying my writing is inspiring, and I'm sure your writing doesn't suck! After all, you write very nice reviews! ;) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Musicsage92: Yay for you signing up and posting your own stories! Hee hee! Anyway, as for Mrs. Figg seeing the Dementors, I'm pretty sure she didn't. Because when she tries to describe them Harry gets the idea that she's never seen one except for maybe in a book. However, she goes on to describe exactly how it feels to be around one. So I think that Squibs can't see them, but they can feel them . . . just like Muggles. Anyway, I'm glad you're looking forward to all the stuff coming up. I'm looking forward to writing it!
Gangtsagirl15: Ha ha, sorry for the long wait on the last chapter, and on this one as well. I'm glad you liked Petunia getting her wand and sorry about getting rid of James. Don't worry though, he'll be back very soon. Hope you like this chapter.
Draco's-Lil-Honey: One of the best chapters? Thanks! The secret that is to be revealed in Chapter 43 has to do with our favorite werewolf, and that's all I'm saying! :) Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Misting Morning: Hey! Welcome to my story! And never think that your review doesn't matter. Every review I get motivates me to keep writing. And nice use of the word hubris! I love that word! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Lovely-Lina1985: I'm glad you're excited about the many upcoming chapters. Part of me is glad I'll get to keep writing it for a while, but the other part is like . . . geez that's a lot of writing! Ha ha, and don't worry about the short review. I think all of your other trilogies more than make up for it! Oh, and when exactly will I be seeing an update of your story, missy? Hee hee! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Radioactivekitten: Ha ha, I think you like the cheese better than any of my other readers. Ha ha, yeah, Remus' Order secret wasn't the most surprising one ever and I figured that some people would have figured it out. But have you figured out his other secrets? :) As for testing Lily's sanity, they just want to make sure that she isn't going to betray the Ministry. And you know, they don't want completely insane people working on the Charms. Someone like that might blow the place up. As for the Dementor's scale, I don't know where that came from. I know Jo has never described them as having scale's, but I couldn't think of another way to describe a piece of a Dementor, so I went with the scale. I think I would be in Ravenclaw, too. That's why I put Petunia there. She's kind of based on me, though not exactly. She just has some of my traits . . . Lily does too. As for the hair cores, blame that on my insane imagination. It came to me and I just went with it. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Rinnington: I'm glad you liked the wand cores. And when I thought of founder wand cores I just knew that Dumbledore had to have Gryffindor's. I mean it's too perfect. And I'm glad you liked the examination. Our Lily is very perceptive, isn't she . . . now if only she would listen to those observations! And you'll see just how badly Lily's meeting with Vernon goes in this chapter, finally.
Angel of Slytherin: I'm glad you liked Lily and James' graduation speech and the wand core thing. As for Rookwood and Bode being Death Eaters, Rookwood was one, Bode was not. He is the member of the ministry who is attacked by Death Eaters and then sent a plant of Devil's Snare when he is in St. Mungo's that kills him. So Bode is trustworthy. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter.
Rebecca Lynn: I'm glad you liked the chapter, especially the wand stuff. And don't worry about James being gone, he'll be back before you know it! Hope you like this chapter.
Chrissy8887779999: Hey, welcome to my story! Don't know if you've made it here yet, but hope you kept reading and enjoying the story. Thanks for the review. Oh, wow, well maybe you haven't gotten this far since you said you would stop reading if she ended up with Severus. I guess I'll just wait and see.
Alicia: Ha ha, don't worry, I wouldn't get 95% on a sanity test either, maybe an insanity test . . . Anyway, why does everyone think Bode was a Death Eater, too? He was killed by Death Eaters in OoTP, so he definitely was not one of them. I'm glad you liked the wand stuff and thought it was creative and I hope you like this chapter.
BeCkY6: Snazzy? I like that word. And I know I didn't update sooner, but I will try VERY hard to update sooner next time. :) I hope this chapter at least proves worth the wait.
OutofAzkaban: Plowing right on through I see, hopefully you'll catch up soon. As for taking James, I think you would have to fight my other reviewer Becca for that privilege! I think it is so cool how people can feel so different about Severus. Some people love him, some people hate him, most people pity him. It's really cool. Anyway, I'm glad you are continuing to enjoy the story, and hopefully you'll make it up here soon. :)
Pippin the hobbit-elf: Well tell Hailey that I thank her for pointing you towards my story, and I'm glad you like it. I hope you didn't actually stay up all night reading it, but hope you do finish get a chance to catch up eventually. I'm glad you like it, and hope you like this chapter when you get to it.
Krisalyn: I'm glad you're excited for the future chapters. I am too. There are a few chapters that I'm especially looking forward to writing, though they will be sad. Anyway, I'm glad you liked that chapter and hope you like this one, too.
Wow, that was a lot of reviews. Anyway, on with the story!
Chapter 37: Meetings
Lily followed Rookwood down into the depths of the Ministry, feeling more excited with every step. Finally she was led into a room where there was one other person seated.
She was a woman, probably a few years older than Lily. She had beautiful long blond hair and luminous eyes. As Lily entered the room, she cocked her head to the side and studied the redhead for a moment before standing.
The woman was very tall; probably taller than Professor Dumbledore even. Lily was instantly intimidated, but the woman's face broke out in a bright smile and she held out her hand, which Lily accepted.
"Hello, I'm Tullia Lovegood, you must be the newest addition to our team. And by our, I mean mine, since I'm currently the only member of this department."
Lily smiled. This woman, while a little unnerving with her towering height and all-seeing eyes, was altogether a nice person.
"I'm Lily Evans. Seeing as I've never met you before, I assume you went to Beauxbatons Academy?"
Tullia smiled and said, "Does the accent give it away? Yes, I lived in France up until two years ago. I met my husband when he was researching a story for his magazine. We met, fell in love, and were married within a month. I was working for the French Ministry of Magic at the time, and they transferred me here."
Lily was impressed. The Ministry was usually very wary of hiring people from outside of Britain, especially for a job that required so much secrecy. Tullia had to have been an extraordinary witch in order to get through all the red tape.
"So, would you like to have a day or two to settle in, or would you like to get right to the fun stuff?" Tullia asked, her eyes shining brightly.
A wave of joy swept over Lily as she realized that the woman standing opposite her loved Charms as much as she did.
"I'm ready to jump on in. What are you working on right now?" Lily asked.
Both women began chatting animatedly about different theories they had on Charms and how they could go about making the ideas in their heads reality. Neither of them noticed when Rookwood left, nor did they notice the odd glint in his eyes.
"She's absolutely fabulous, Petunia!" Lily said, helping her sister set the table.
Petunia smiled at the hyperactive woman and sighed. For the past two days, Lily had spoken of nothing else except Tullia. In fact, Lily hadn't even mentioned James in the past forty-eight hours. In truth, she was a little worried about her younger sister. Petunia hadn't heard Lily ramble like this since she had learned about Joan of Arc back in grammar school.
She chuckled at the memory of Lily dressed in foil-covered cardboard, claiming that God had come to her while she slept saying that she was meant to save England from some impending war.
"Petunia? Petunia?! Are you even listening to me?" Lily said, waving a hand in front of her sister's face while tapping her foot in annoyance.
"Sorry Lily. I was just remembering something. This Tullia sounds like a wonderful woman. Hopefully we can meet sometime soon."
"Oh you should! You'll love her. Though, you may not like her husband so much," Lily said, hiding a smile.
"Oh, why's that?" Petunia said, distractedly, checking to make sure the two candles on the table were the same length.
"He's the editor of The Quibbler."
Petunia looked up at her sister with a look of disgust. "Oh you must be joking. She's actually married to someone who writes that trash?"
Lily gave her sister a disapproving look and said, "Come on Petunia. It's not that bad. And he must be extraordinarily creative to come up with that stuff."
"He passes it off as truth, Lily! I think a couple of issues ago he tried to claim that the Yorkshire Terrier was actually a dark creature bent on taking over the world."
Lily giggled and said, "Well they certainly could. Who doesn't love a Yorkie?"
Petunia just rolled her eyes and continued trying to straighten the table cloth. Lily watched her move it one way and then the other and then back again before she finally placed her hands firmly on the older girl's shoulders and pulled her away.
"It's straight, Petunia. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous."
Petunia shook her hands out in front of her and took a deep breath. "I know, I know. I don't mean to be, but it's just . . . I really like him Lily. And I really want you to like him and him to like you . . . and I'm just scared."
"You're babbling, Petunia. You better be careful, or people are going to start thinking you're me. And honestly . . . I can't imagine not liking someone you're so taken with. And come on . . . who wouldn't love me? I'm just so darn loveable!"
Laughing, Petunia threw a napkin at her sister and then immediately picked it back up, folding it and putting it back in its place.
"You're right Lily. Someone would have to be crazy not to love you."
Lily was about to say something else when she was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Petunia turned an interesting shade of white before checking her reflection in the mirror and running to answer the door.
After giving Petunia and Vernon a couple minutes of privacy to greet one another, Lily made her entrance from the dining room.
For a moment she was surprised by the man standing in front of her. He wasn't exactly ugly, but he was certainly not the most attractive man in the world. He was rather on the larger side, which was unexpected, seeing that Petunia usually went for guys who were built like her. After all, Sirius and Severus had both been tall and very thin. This man was short and stocky. However, his face seemed friendly enough.
Lily smiled and walked up to him, pulling him into a hug. "It's so good to finally meet you, Vernon. Petunia has told me so much about you."
Vernon seemed a little taken aback by Lily's forwardness, but gained his composure quickly and said, "The pleasure is all mine. Petunia here never stops talking about her darling baby sister."
Petunia blushed but smiled, glad to see that so far the two seemed to be getting on okay.
"Vernon was just telling me about his trip. He's been in Germany for the past few days working on a merger of some kind. It all sounds very fascinating. Why don't you tell Lily about it, sweetie?" Petunia said, her eyes dancing merrily as she looked at Vernon.
"Do tell, Vernon. I'm always up for a good story," Lily said, grinning at the happiness evident on her sister's face.
Two hours later, the grin painted on Lily's face was no longer genuine. In fact, she didn't think she had ever had a more forced smile gracing her features.
Vernon had to be the most frightfully boring person Lily had ever met. He kept going on and on about drills and reports and so many other dull things that her head was beginning to ache from the pain of feigning interest.
If it was just that he was dull, she may have been able to stand him, but the fact was that he was also proving to be an extremely unpleasant individual. At first she had thought he was just joking around. But as the rude comments became more and more frequent she realized that he was very serious. For instance, at the moment he was going on about a boy who worked as his assistant in the office.
"I mean, this boy is completely incompetent. He can't even file a simple order form and he has no respect for his superiors. The other day I asked him to get me a cup of coffee and he said, 'In a minute.' 'In a minute,' can you believe that?"
Lily placed a look on her face that she hope looked like one of shock. Vernon continued his rant, so she assumed it was the expression he was looking for.
"So I gave him a lecture right then and there. I told him if he ever addressed me in such a manner again, he would be right out the door. Him and his little earring. And ever since then, he has only addressed me with 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir'."
Lily shook her head trying to clear her thoughts as she said, "What did you say about an earring?"
"Oh didn't I mention that before? The little fool actually has an earring. I mean, honestly. What kind of respectable lad walks around with a piece of jewelry in his ear like some woman?"
"Oh, I don't know. I think it looks rather dashing," Lily said offhandedly.
By the gasp Vernon let out one would have thought that Lily had just called Vernon's mother a horrible name or something equally offensive.
"You cannot be serious, Lily. I mean, it's just not . . . normal," Vernon said, a scandalized look on his face.
Lily let out a laugh and said, "Well, being normal isn't always a good thing, Vernon. A little abnormality never hurt anyone. I bet even you have something that makes you unusual."
Once again, Vernon looked scandalized. His face was beginning to take on an interesting shade of pink. Then, through what Lily could tell was a very forced smile, he said, "I, Miss Evans, am certainly not abnormal in any way, shape, or form. I pride myself on being as normal as they come."
Lily actually wanted to laugh, but was becoming exceedingly frustrated. Finally, she turned to her sister, who had remained silent during the entire exchange, and gave her a look. Vernon was looking at her in much the same manner.
"Well, um . . . well," Petunia said, torn between her boyfriend and her sister. Finally she turned to Lily and said, "A boy with an earring does look rather strange."
Lily felt like she had just been slapped in the face. Her sister was actually taking the big oaf's side. Didn't Petunia realize that by criticizing the abnormal he was criticizing the both of them? Lily was a Witch and Petunia was a Squib with magical abilities. Neither of them were by any means normal, and the man sitting opposite her seemed to detest anything that wasn't normal. Lily could not even imagine how he would react if he learned about magic.
Then suddenly a thought struck Lily which made her drop her fork. Was Petunia even planning on telling Vernon about the magical world? If the two of them were serious about each other, she would eventually have to tell him. After all, it was a part of who Petunia is.
Lily was brought back to the conversation at hand by Vernon's very loud laugh.
"See, Petunia here knows. And I bet there isn't anything abnormal about her either, is there dear?"
Petunia laughed a very fake laugh and said, "That's right. I'm as normal as they come."
The elder Evans sister avoided the younger's incredulous gaze. Lily could not believe the way her sister was acting. It was completely out of character and it was all because of this unattractive, uncaring, wholly unappealing man. Lily just could not figure it out. Why did her sister like him?
For the rest of the meal, Lily pretty much kept her mouth closed, letting Vernon go on complaining about many other things, including motorcyclists, rock music, and street performers. Much to Lily's dismay, Petunia just continued to listen and laugh at Vernon's distasteful jokes.
By the time Vernon finally left, Lily felt like she was going to vomit.
Petunia said goodbye to Vernon and closed the door, turning to face Lily. She took one look at her face and said, "You hate him?"
Lily sighed and said, "I don't know if I would use the word hate. I just don't see how you can like him."
"He's really not as bad as he seems. He just likes things a certain way is all. He's really very sweet once you get to know him more. Please, Lily, won't you try, for me?" Petunia asked, gazing pleadingly at her sister.
"Okay, okay," Lily said, unable to say no to her sister. "I'll try to get to know him more. But Petunia, are you sure he's even worth your time? I mean, how do you know he's not going to run away screaming when he finds out about our world?"
"Your world, Lily. It's your world, not mine. And I'll deal with that if it ever comes up."
Lily could feel tears stinging at her eyes when her sister referred to the magical world as not her own, but she was too tired to open up that conversation at the moment. Instead she just said, "If?"
Petunia shrugged and said, "Well, who says that I ever have to tell him?"
Before Lily could say anything else, Petunia excused herself, saying she was tired and Lily was left standing in the living room wondering why her sister seemed ready to turn her back on who she really was.
A few more weeks passed and Lily had several more opportunities to get to know Vernon. And as much as she tried, she just could not like him. She was glad to see that he was very nice to her sister. He always complimented her and looked at her in a way that Lily had rarely seen a man look at another woman. He looked at her the way that James looked at herself.
James. Lily sighed as she thought of him. It had been nearly a month since he had left for training, which meant that she had three more months until she would see him again. He was even going to miss her birthday, which was coming up in a few days' time. She felt tears stinging at her eyes and she shook her head, fighting them back.
She couldn't think about him. She had to just focus on the good things, like the fact that later that night she would be attending her first Order meeting. She hadn't been this scared and excited at the same time since her first day at Hogwarts.
At least this time she would have Petunia with her. As well as Alice and Amelia. And she was pretty sure Peter would be going to this meeting as well. She hadn't spoken to him yet, but she had heard he was back from Quidditch conditioning for a few days. Unfortunately, Remus would not be there as he was still away on his secret mission. And of course James, Sirius, and Frank were away at Auror training.
Lily was very much looking forward to seeing Alice and Amelia. She had seen them both individually a couple times during the summer, but they had all been so busy with their new jobs that they hadn't all been able to get together. Lily found that she had been missing the two girls who had been her roommates for the past seven years.
Of course, she loved living with her sister just as much . . . usually.
Petunia had been acting very strangely over the past few weeks. She had been going to her tutoring sessions and seemed to still be very excited about them. Lily had seen her practicing a couple of times and she seemed to be doing very well. With a wand of her own, she was really beginning to harness the magic within her and had been able to perform several simple charms. A few years ago this would have had Petunia jumping up and down in excitement, but instead she had seemed very reserved about all of it. In fact, sometimes Lily got the feeling that Petunia didn't want to be doing magic at all. And she kept trying to distance herself from the Wizarding World.
Like tonight.
"Lily, I don't know if I should go tonight," Petunia said, coming into Lily's room looking very pale.
"Don't be silly Petunia. Dumbledore wants you there."
"I know, but what about everyone else? They'll probably think that I don't belong because I'm a Squib."
Lily put down the report by Tullia that she had been reading and looked at Petunia and rolled her eyes. "Petunia, this is an organization that was put together with the sole purpose of fighting people who would think like that. They don't believe that Wizards or Witches are better than anyone else, and they would welcome anyone else who thinks that way as well."
Petunia sighed and said, "Yeah, I know that . . . but still."
"Petunia, do you want to go tonight? Because I'm not going to force you to do something you don't want to do."
"I don't know . . . "
"Well, let me put it this way; do you want to do anything you can to help in the fight against Voldemort?"
"Of course, but . . . "
"No buts then. You want to do everything you can to help, and you being a part of the Order will help. End of discussion."
And with that, Lily ushered her still-confused sister out of her room and went back to reading over the report on weather-controlling Charms.
"Did you think there would be this many people here? I didn't think there would be this many people here," Petunia whispered to her sister, her voice noticeably shaking.
Lily gazed around with wide eyes and shook her head. She had imagined that the Order had only a handful of members, twenty, maybe thirty tops. But instead she was surrounded by at least sixty witches and wizards. And what was really scary was the fact that she knew that there were more away at Auror training.
She found Alice and Amelia in the crowd and immediately pulled Petunia towards them. Several of the faces in the crowd were familiar, most of them having graduated from Hogwarts over the past few years, but she really didn't know any of them that well.
Alice and Amelia both hugged the sisters and the four began talking about what had been going on in their lives recently.
"Oh, there's Edgar!" Amelia said suddenly, waving to her brother as he arrived. "Thank goodness there's someone we know here who will tell us exactly what to do. I wish Remus could have been here, but he's still not back."
Lily noted the twinge of tension in Amelia's voice and asked, "When was the last time you heard from him?"
"About a week ago. I knew that he wouldn't really be able to keep consistent contact with me, but I still get scared. And the full moon was a couple of nights ago. I know he's always really careful, but I'll feel better once I hear from him again."
Lily and Alice nodded sympathetically. It was hard for the two of them having their significant others away at Auror training, but at least they knew that James and Frank were safe.
"I'm just hoping that Dumbledore will have some news about him. I'm pretty sure that Remus and him are keeping in constant contact through some safer means than owls."
Lily nodded while scanning the crowd. She saw one other student from her year was at the meeting, looking just as nervous as Lily felt. However, she didn't see Peter anywhere.
"Hey, do either of you know if Peter is coming to this meeting? I heard he was back from conditioning."
"Yeah he is . . . and he's right here," Peter's voice came from behind Lily, nearly making her jump out of her skin.
"Peter! You little worm! Don't you ever do that again," Lily said, clutching at her chest.
He just grinned widely and gave her a hug, then turned to the other three girls and gave them hugs as well.
"It's good to see all of you. I just wish the guys could have been here," Peter said, "How are they doing by the way? I haven't heard from them."
"Yeah. Sirius and James have been super busy. I'm lucky to get an owl a week from James and I think he only finds the time to write to me because he knows I'd do a locator spell and come and kill him at training if he didn't," Lily said grinning. "They're both doing well though. In James' own words, 'Auror training is bloody fantastic.'"
"You have one crazy bloke on your hands, Lily. I have never known a single person who enjoyed Auror training. I'd say it's more like a trip to hell," Edgar said coming over to the group.
"Yeah, apparently James really likes the structure. He feels like he's really going to be prepared for a fight."
"Oh he will be, but I don't see how he can enjoy the hell of preparing for those fights. Anyway, I just came over to let you know that we'll be starting soon, so you may want to find some seats," Edgar said before going to find one himself.
After a few moments of settling down, Dumbledore stood, clearing his throat, and everyone went silent.
"Good evening, everyone. I'm hoping to keep this meeting as short as I can, but we do have a lot to go over, so bear with me. First of all, I am sad to inform you that, as many of you have probably already heard, the Randolphs and Bakers were killed this weekend."
A few gasps went through the room and several Witches were crying silently.
Edgar leaned over and whispered, "They were members of the Order. It's sad, but this has become almost a regular part of the meetings. It's getting ugly out there and our ranks are suffering."
Lily and Petunia shared a look that plainly said, That's a great way to make us feel comfortable.
After a few moments Dumbledore began speaking again. "We will be holding a memorial for them tomorrow evening, but I know that they would still want us to keep on fighting. They died for this cause and it is imperative that we maintain hope and continue to fight. On that note, I wish to introduce some of the new members who will be joining us. Most of them have recently graduated from Hogwarts and two of their classmates will also be joining our ranks once they are done with Auror Training in October. But for now let me introduce Miss Alice Johnson, Miss Amelia Bones, sister of our Edgar, Mr. Peter Pettigrew, Mr. Davey Gudgeon, and Misses Lily and Petunia Evans."
Lily was glad to see that Dumbledore didn't single Petunia out as not being a Hogwarts student, and from the sigh of relief that Petunia gave, Lily could tell she was glad as well.
The other members of the Order all smiled politely at the newcomers and then turned their attention back to Dumbledore.
The rest of the meeting went very much like Lily expected. Different members spoke on the progress of their assignments, much of the time giving very few details as no one was really supposed to know what the assignments were. She was surprised to hear that many of the members were observing people in their jobs who were suspected of being Death Eaters. She had never thought that there were so many potential Death Eaters out there, but apparently Voldemort's following was growing with every day.
"And as for our Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore said, making Amelia sit up with interest, "his mission is going very well. In fact, in our recent correspondence, he informed me that he should be coming back any day now, the mission successful."
Amelia gave out a whoop of joy, drawing many pairs of eyes in her direction.
Dumbledore actually chuckled as Amelia turned red. "I probably should have mentioned that in addition to being Edgar's sister, Amelia is also Remus' girlfriend."
Amelia kept her eyes focused on her hands, refusing to meet the Professor's gaze. Alice patted her shoulder sympathetically.
"And to avoid any future curiosity at a member's burst of enthusiasm, you should know that Miss Johnson is our Mr. Longbottom's girlfriend."
Alice shot Dumbledore a glare before proceeding to turn red and become very interested in the hem of her skirt.
"And now that I have thoroughly embarrassed two of our new members, I think it is time to end this meeting. We will be making our meetings more frequent due to the increased number of attacks that have been happening recently, so our next meeting will be within the next week. You will be informed of the date and time. Meeting adjourned. Oh, and if the new members could come up front, I need to give you your assignments."
Lily felt a tingle of anticipation rush through her as she thought about having an assignment. She wondered what it could possibly be.
She waited patiently while Dumbledore spoke to each new member in the office that was attached to the meeting hall they were in.
Lily had been surprised upon coming to the meeting. She had always assumed that the meetings would be held at Hogwarts, but it was instead held in an abandoned warehouse in London. Well from the outside it was an abandoned warehouse. Inside it was a beautifully decorated meeting hall, complete with several small meeting rooms as well as an impressive library.
Lily looked up as Petunia came out of Dumbledore's office, grinning widely and carrying an armful of parchments. Lily wondered what exactly her sister's assignment could be, but before she could ask, she was called in to talk to Dumbledore.
She walked into the office and closed the door behind her. She had had several meetings with Dumbledore as Head Girl, but she still always had a little bit of nervousness in her stomach whenever she had to talk to the powerful wizard. She doubted that she would ever stop seeing him as her Headmaster.
"Lily, I can't tell you how good it was to see you at the meeting tonight. Your skills will most certainly come in handy for the Order," Dumbledore said, while motioning Lily to take a seat.
"Thank you, sir. I can honestly tell you that I'm up for any assignment you see fit to give me."
Dumbledore smiled, "That is very good to hear Miss Evans, but you will not really be getting the kind of assignments others will be getting."
Lily looked at him, confused, and he continued.
"You see Miss Evans, you are already doing very important work for the fight against Voldemort in your actual job. All I ask of you is to devote as much time as possible to the development of new Charms that may help, and then as you determine that they are safe for use, I want you to teach the Aurors in the Order how to use them."
"But, Professor . . . " Lily started, shocked at what the Professor was asking her.
"I am aware that you are not allowed to reveal what you are working on Miss Evans, but we have reason to believe that there are people in the Ministry who are working for the other side. If they get a hold of these Charms and learn how to use them when we cannot, the results will be disastrous."
Lily nodded slowly. "I understand Professor, and I will do it . . . on one condition."
Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at Lily, but motioned for him to continue.
"I want one on one time with each and every Auror I will be teaching the Charms to. If I have any bad feelings at all, I will not teach them. In fact, I want Petunia to have one on one time with them as well. I don't know anyone who can judge a person's character better than Petunia," Lily said, thinking that there was one exception to that rule, but love had a way of blinding people.
Dumbledore nodded and said, "I can respect that Lily. And I need not tell you that this is to remain a complete secret. You will not tell anyone at your job that you are doing this, nor anyone else in the Order. Even when you teach the Aurors, you are not to tell them where the Charms have come from. We will tell them that they are highly advanced Charms that have been around for ages, but are very hard to control, so they must be taught by a professional on a one on one basis. We will not be telling Petunia why she is meeting with the Aurors either, just that we want her honest opinion on them."
Lily nodded and started to ask a question, but Dumbledore cut her off.
"No, not even James, Lily. No one is to know that you are taking secrets from the Department of Mysteries. We cannot risk you getting caught."
Lily nodded, a determined glint in her eye. She knew this was highly dangerous, and she could end up in Azkaban if she got caught, but she had to do it. There were too many people's lives at stake.
As she left the room and saw her sister's grinning face, she became even more determined.
She would be breaking the law, but if it meant helping to keep Petunia safe, she would do it. She would do anything for Petunia.
"Come on Lily, I haven't seen Frank on my birthday for the past three years, because of Auror training. It's something you'll have to deal with," Alice said, shaking her head at her slightly depressed friend.
"I know, it's just . . . this is my first birthday since we've become a couple. It would be nice to spend it with him."
"What? We're not good enough company? Well, I see how it is!" Peter said, standing up and walking out of the room dramatically. A moment later he stuck his head back in the room and said, "Well, did it work? Did she smile?"
Lily laughed and motioned Peter back into the room. "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll stop sulking. I am very lucky to have three of my marvelous friends and my marvelous sister here on my birthday."
It wasn't much of a party, but Lily hadn't been in much of a celebrating mood, so she had just invited Amelia, Alice, and Peter over to hang out on her birthday. She had also invited Tullia, but she had declined, saying that her husband had asked her to go away with him for a few days to do some research for an article he was writing on some rare breed of Dark creature. Lily still hadn't been able to decide whether or not Tullia actually believed the things her husband wrote, or if she just humored him out of love.
Either way, she could tell that the two were very close. She hoped that her friends would be able to meet the Lovegoods soon.
Lily was just about to tell the others about something Tullia had said at work the other day when she was interrupted by a loud alarm blaring in the flat.
"What is that?" Amelia yelled, clapping her hands over her ears.
Fear was evident in Petunia's eyes as she said, "Those are the Apparition Alarms. Someone just tried to Apparate into the apartment."
Four wands were produced in a matter of moments. Petunia was itching to pull out her own, but no one except for Lily knew that she had one, and it was meant to stay that way. Also, it's not like she could really do anything with it, besides maybe float a feather over to tickle the intruder.
"Can someone do something about those blasted alarms?" Peter yelled, trying his best to block out the sound, while keeping his wand at the ready.
Lily flicked her wand in the air, and the alarms went silent.
"Thank you!" Peter said.
Suddenly all members of the group jumped as there was a knock at the door. Lily looked at the others as if asking if she should answer. It wasn't likely that the Death Eaters would knock, but she really never could be too careful.
"Who is it?" she asked cautiously, moving towards the door.
"It's me. Open up."
"Remus!" Amelia squealed, running past Lily and throwing the door open, revealing a very odd-looking Remus.
His robes were burnt and his hair was standing on end. But he was wearing a very big grin on his face.
"Quick, Remus, come in. There's someone trying to attack us," Amelia said, pulling Remus into the door.
"Oh, don't worry about that. That was just me."
"You? What were you doing trying to Apparate in when you know there are Charms preventing that in place? And why in the world do you look like that?" Lily asked, though she felt very relieved to learn that they were not in danger.
"Have you ever tried Apparating into a place that has anti-Apparation spells on it? Those things pack quite a punch. As for why I did it, it's your present Lily!"
Lily looked at him strangely, not understanding. But before she could ask, the front doors burst open once more and a string of Aurors came running into the flat, including James and Sirius.
"Where are they? Where are the slimy wankers who tried to hurt my Lily," James said, wand shaking in his hands. Then upon seeing Lily standing there in one piece, he launched himself at her. "Lily!"
Lily was in a state of shock as her boyfriend lifted her from the ground and spun her around.
"What's going on here?" A gruff voice said, "Where are the Death Eaters?"
"Sorry about that Alastor. I'm the one who set of the alarms. I was so excited to see Amelia again that I completely forgot that Lily and Petunia's place was protected by anti-Apparition Charms. It won't happen again."
The frightening looking man that Lily recognized as Alastor Moody, Auror extraordinaire and member of the Order, gave Remus a look that would send most people running for cover, but Remus just smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders.
"Very well. Men, women! Let's move out!" Moody said, motioning the Witches and Wizards out of the room.
Lily looked at James with tears in her eyes and said, "You have to leave already?"
James turned and looked at Moody, a pleading look in his eyes. Much to everyone's surprise, his face softened a bit and he said, "You have half an hour, Potter. If you aren't back in that amount of time, consider your chance of being an Auror about as likely as Black here actually making it to the sunrise training on time.
"Hey! I resent that comment," Sirius said, though he was grinning.
Moody narrowed his eyes and said, "I'm sure you do. Now move it Black, we don't got all day."
"Wait. I don't get to stay?" Sirius said, pouting slightly.
Moody growled, "Is it your girlfriend's birthday, Black?"
"I don't have a girlfriend, sir."
"Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, you have no reason to stay. Also, Potter here has proven adept at every task I have set before him and therefore has earned this short amount of time off. You, on the other hand, can seem to stop goofing off. Now MOVE!"
Sirius jumped and saluted, before waving to the others and following Moody out the door.
Once they had left, Lily jumped into James' arms again and proceeded to cover him with kisses.
"You're welcome, by the way," Remus said, grinning at the two of them.
Lily and James both turned to him with puzzled looks on their faces.
"Explain please," Lily said.
"Well," Remus said, taking a seat and pulling a giggling Amelia into his lap. "As I was traveling back home, I realized that today was Lily's birthday. And seeing that there weren't exactly any shopping centers where I have been staying the past few weeks, I had been unable to acquire a birthday present for you. So I said to myself, 'self,' 'cause that's what I call myself, 'what can I do for dear sweet Lily on her very special day?'"
The others had all gathered around Remus, wondering what exactly had gotten into him. The man was positively glowing and he was thoroughly enjoying telling this story.
"And then I realized that James was probably still at Auror training and how horrible it must be for her not to be able to see him on her very special day, especially with this being her first birthday since the two of them had gotten together. Then I remembered that Dumbledore had mentioned that the trained Aurors would be at camp for this week going over certain tactics with the trainees. So if I could somehow get them to think that the beautiful Evans sisters were being attacked, they would send the Aurors out to their flat. And of course, as soon as James found out that it was Lily being attacked, which he no doubt would, he would insist on coming along. And so, that is why I attempted to Apparate into your flat. Of course, at the time, I didn't know I would nearly get burnt alive, but what's a good present if it doesn't involve some risk?"
The others all just stared at Remus in awe before bursting into laughter.
"So, what you're basically saying is that I'm Lily's gift from you?" James said through his laughter.
"Pretty much, yeah."
Once again, the group burst into laughter, until finally Amelia gained her ability to talk again and asked the question that was on everyone's minds.
"What in the world has gotten into you, Remus? I've never seen you in such a good mood."
Remus smiled and said, "I was hoping you would be the one to ask. There are two reasons. The first is that my mission was a complete success and it should give our side a major advantage in this war. The second is that while I was away, I realized just how much I love you and I decided that, while I'm not quite ready for marriage, I would like to take the next step of living together, if that's alright with you of course."
Amelia looked at Remus for a moment before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
"Of course that's alright with me! Give me ten minutes and I'll have half of the closet and drawer space cleared out for you in my flat!"
The others all cheered. Lily had never seen her two friends so happy and was getting ready to congratulate them, when James grabbed her hand and lead her out of the living room into her bedroom.
Once they were alone, he proceeded to kiss her in a way that made her nearly fall over. She probably would have if it weren't for James supporting her.
"Sorry about pulling you away, but I just had to do that," James said, smiling widely at his girlfriend.
"James, you never have to apologize for kissing me. Especially not for kissing me like that," Lily said, a little breathless.
"I've missed you so much," James said, pulling Lily close again.
"I've missed you, too," Lily said, unable to keep the tears from falling down her face.
"I know it's hard, but the time will go by before we know it. I promise."
"Let's not talk about it. Please, just kiss me."
And he did. For the next twenty minutes, Lily laid in her love's arms, thinking that Remus had given her the best birthday present ever.
A/N: That was a pretty long chapter, huh? I think I did a pretty good job of making a lot happen. Most of the chapters will be like that from now on. Most will cover a period of a few months, jumping around from event to event. Oh, in case you were interested, Tullia is an Irish name and it means peaceful. I thought it was a fitting name for the mother of our dear Luna. I really like her a lot, and look forward to writing more of her, and her husband for that matter. They aren't really going to be a main part of the story, but as soon as I thought of Lily's job, I just knew that Luna's mom would have worked there too. As for her being French, I don't know where that came from, but Tullia does kind of sound French, doesn't it?
Anyway . . . beta stuff. As I said, I'm in need of a new beta. Basically, the requirements are to have pretty good grammar skills and a general knowledge of both Harry Potter canon and my canon. Sometimes I forget what I have written in the past and I'll write something that contradicts it, so I need to have someone to check that for me. The main grammar mistakes I make are forgetting question marks (ha ha, Laura has gotten really good at spotting those), forgetting to capitalize things that are capitalized in the HP books (i.e. Apparate, Squib, Witch, Wizard, Quidditch, etc. This is where a general HP knowledge comes in handy), and subject-verb agreement type stuff. I always mess that up. It's nothing major . . . I plan to be an English teacher, so I don't make horrible errors, just little stuff that gets overlooked in the passion of writing. Uh . . . a perk is that you get to see the chapter before anyone else. And usually I like to get the chapter back within 3 or 4 days of sending it to you, so you don't have to feel too rushed with it. So yeah, if anyone is interested you can put it in your review or just send me an email.
And finally, I'm well into the next chapter and expect it to be done within the next week or so. I don't want to give it all away, so I'll just tell you that you'll get to see James and Sirius' first Order meeting. And also, here's a little teaser to give you an idea of what else is going to happen. Until next time!
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"Er . . . Lily, why is your boyfriend wearing a dress?"