January, 2043

Lily Luna Potter was thirty-five when she had finally finalized her divorce.

It wasn't that she was terribly upset by the whole ordeal, really she was relieved. She had a good deal going on to keep her occupied, and she didn't need to think about Lysander. She had her job at the Department of Mysteries, her large and chaotic extended family, and her brothers to keep her from thinking about him.

But that didn't make it hurt any less. Losing Lysander was like losing a part of her. He was her best friend, and now...she felt like she didn't know him at all. And she had never felt so alone.

She stepped out of the solicitor's office, opening her umbrella to head into the rain.

Suddenly, Lily felt her cell phone and checked her messages.

Hey Lulu, how did it go?

Lily shook her head. It was her brother, Jamie. She had never liked the name Lily Luna as a little girl, so the family called her Lulu. Despite her change of heart, the name stuck.

About as well as could be expected. He showed up with that woman. No new demands for more alimony though, so that's a relief. We just signed the papers

She knew she shouldn't have been so honest when she kept staring at the three dots hovering in response on his end of the conversation. Jamie was more of a one sentence bloke. It seems he was typing a paragraph, but thought better about sending it.

Good. You're better off without him. Meet me at the Leaky for a drink?

Lily quickly texted back.

Too public. I don't want anyone to see us. Can't deal with people trying to get a selfie with you.

Not my fault your brother is too dashing for his own good.

Oh shut up. I'm heading to Grimmauld to see Dad. Meet you there?

Sure, I have to have this meeting with my dev team and I'll be right over.

Lily put her phone back in the pocket of her coat and apparated to Grimmauld Place. None of them had it easy being the children of famous Quidditch Star Ginny Weasley and the savior himself, Harry Potter. They were privileged, wanting for nothing with a loving family, but the pressure of living up to that legacy could be crippling. Al practically drove himself insane during his teenage years, and Jamie locked himself away in his room, tinkering. Jamie always has a knack for gadgets, even worked on a few prototypes for Uncle George in the joke shop before patenting his own. By 2020, he'd developed the first smartphones that were powered by magic, and microprocessors that were amplified by magical frequencies rather than short circuit in their presence. In the next five years, he brought the Wizarding World kicking and screaming into the digital age. As for Lily, she supposed she was content becoming part of the faceless who worked in the shadows, and moving back in with her parents.

As she stared at the steps of her childhood home, she quickly walked up and knocked on the door. To her surprise, her father greeted her.

"Dad!" She squealed, wrapping him into a hug.

"Hello, Lulu dear. Glad to see you too. The worst is over, isn't it?" He gave her a sympathetic smile that only made her feel sheepish.

Lily chuckled, "And then some."

"You look dreadful, are you getting enough sleep lately?" Harry asked.

"Is Jamie here yet?" Lily deflected.

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Oh, I wasn't aware we'd be graced by the digital wizkid this afternoon."

Lily gave a wry grin. "I think he prefers the term technomage" They laughed.

Lily took off her coat as Harry waved his wand, the teapot floating back into the kitchen to collect more hot water. Papers were strewn about the drawing room floor and a massive cork board with pins and string was propped against the couch.

"Any breakthrough on the case?" Lily asked. "Or are you just redecorating?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Very funny. But I think there's something I can't quite put my finger on. Some of the traces of magic we've found are decades old, but they look recent."

"Perhaps someone stole Aunt Hermione's time turner?" Lily asked.

Harry shook his head. "Impossible, after that fiasco it's under constant surveillance. Do you think you'd be able to give me your professional opinion on these? Off the record of course."

Lily tensed. "Dad, you know I can't."

"Even as an order from the Head Auror?"

"DoM secrets take higher precedence. But, I can see what I can do." She took a look at the files. "Traces of Dark Magic, and the Priori Incantatem lists they were from a long time ago?"

"During the Second War, around 1995 specifically." Harry clarified.

"That was when you and the others went to the Ministry and…"

"Yes," Harry replied tersely. "You don't think that could have had any interference?"

Lily shook her head. "Unlikely. I'd need to be at the scene myself to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. Time magic is tricky, you know."

"It's not somewhere I'd want you to go," Harry protested.

"That makes me want to go even more. I'll be fine," Lily replied. Harry sighed, and with a flick of his wand retrieved their coats. He grabbed her hand and apparated them to a burnt out crater that was the remains of a chip shop in Edinburgh.

"This Muggle business was a front for a black market potions ingredients depot. It was a well-known spot for low level Death Eaters to meet during the war, but hasn't been as active since...until now."

Lily was startled. "I've been here before."

Harry turned to look at her curiously. "When?"

"During my schooldays. The chip shop, not the sketchy potions place in the back. I didn't even know it was there."

The last time she was here was during one of her episodes.

Accidental magic was common enough among witches and wizards. Accidental time travel, or the other hand, was only something Lily Luna had the rare misfortune to experience. Sometimes, when she was overwhelmed, she found herself displaced. It could be months or years away from where she was before. Her first trip was twenty minutes into the past when she was four years old. It wasn't long after she was traveling back centuries. However, she always came back to her own time with everyone none the wiser. Only she would remember what had changed. And so she stayed, unnoticed among her family and traveling against her own will.

The last time she was here was in 1975. She was sitting outside this shop in a sequined jumpsuit, eating burnt chips with Sirius Black. He had hated her at the time, but even then she knew she loved him. But now he's dead. He had been for almost fifty years. Don't think about him.

Lily circled around, casting diagnostic charms. "There's nothing wrong with the readings. The person who cast this came from 1995. The question remains if they're still here."

She thought about Sirius's laughter. He had been so carefree, so young. Honestly it had been strange, seeing all of the Marauders in person, but it had been even more so to see the person who would grow up to be the man her father had spoken about so highly in his stories of the past. She wanted to know more about him, about all of them, and in the process fell in love with him despite herself. It had been the longest she'd stayed in any time period, a full year, though to this day she didn't know why. In her years researching her ability at the Department of Mysteries, she had only come so far. She had found a deeper understanding of time travel as her sole purpose- at the cost of her marriage. Perhaps if she hadn't spent so much time working, Lysander wouldn't have found comfort in someone else…

"Lulu?"

Lily could feel the familiar sensation of a tingling in her fingertips as her body started to dissolve. Oh no. She was beginning to have another episode, in front of her father no less.

Lily closed her eyes and tried to stay focused on where she was and the current date, but it was no use. She was going to fall back in time again, unsure when she'd land.

She heard her father scream out her name before her vision went black.