'When is dad coming home?' Lily asked before she could stop herself for what felt like the millionth time that summer.

Ginny let out a sigh at the question and pushed away the parchment in front of her so that she could show her children that they had her full attention. She had been writing a draft article for the Daily Prophet on the latest Harpies versus Wasps match. Having finished their dinner, Albus, James and Lily were all sitting around the dining table in Grimmauld Place pretending to do their summer homework. In reality, they were just using it as an excuse to stay up late enough to catch a glimpse of their father before they went to bed.

Normally Lily would have been far more interested in the content of her mother's quidditch articles than the whereabouts of her father, but as it was, she hadn't seen Harry even once since getting back from Hogwarts.

'I don't know that he'll be back tonight either dear' Ginny said, running a hand through Lily's hair sympathetically.

Lily looked down at the parchment she had been absentmindedly scribbling on with a quill for the past hour. She couldn't keep the expression of disappointment off her face.

After a terrible end to the school year finding out about Alasdair's deception and realizing that she would have to think of another way to stop Professor Raleigh, Lily had been really looking forward to seeing her father. Not being able to discuss her suspicions about her Defense Against the Dark Arts professor with him had only compounded the sense of misery that she had been carrying around with her for months.

'Are we not even going to celebrate his birthday?' James asked miserably.

'We can have dinner out this year' Ginny promised. As Harry usually did most of the cooking for these occasions, having dinner out would be more achievable in the current circumstances. The number of cases of Noirmorter in central London had skyrocketed at an alarming rate over the past month and the Ministry was running at full capacity to try to find the source of the curse and put a stop to it.

Ginny turned to Lily and gave her a little nudge.

'Would you like to invite Lysander around for yours?' She asked with forced cheerfulness. Lily's birthday was very close to Harry's and they often celebrated it at home together with all of the extended family.

'No I want to celebrate together with dad' Lily replied.

'Alright then' Ginny smiled affectionately at her daughter. 'It'll be a shared birthday dinner then. Perhaps we can go to that new French place that opened up next to Ministry Munchies'

Lily supposed her father really must be stretched to the limit for time if they had to go to a restaurant that was inside the Atrium of the Ministry just to see him on his birthday but she kept her thoughts on the matter to herself and forced herself to smile brightly back at her mother.


Lily hadn't been to inside Ministry since she was a little girl of five, but she could still remember the whizzing sound that the telephone booth made as it descended down into the depths of the Ministry and the feel of the cool air in the atrium, misty from the Fountain of Magical Brethren.

The atmosphere was undeniably tense. Though it was already late in the evening, Witches and Wizards darted about in their business robes hurrying to get to meetings or else stood in groups speaking in hushed tones about urgent matters.

Lily felt rather out of place in her dark blue corduroy pinafore and floral shirt dressed for dinner. She walked between James and Albus and the three siblings followed along after their mother who was making a beeline for a quaint little bistro painted in bright red, dark green and pale blue stripes with a sign that read 'François Félix'.

Ginny appeared to be conscious of the copious sets of eyes that had followed them as they walked through the Atrium and hurriedly ushered her children inside the restaurant. Lily suspected that one of the reasons that it had been so long since the last time that she had been to the Ministry was because her parents did not like to put their children in the spotlight when they could avoid it.

A smiling French wizard led them to their table, where he set it with a new table cloth and cutlery with a quick swish of his wand right before their eyes. He poured some wine for Ginny and for the empty chair where their father would sit before bringing out glasses of pumpkin juice for Lily, Albus and James.

The four spent a few minutes in strained silence, ignoring the bread and cheese in front of them, and wondering how delayed their father would be or if indeed he would show up at all.

But a few moments later the bell on the door tinkled and Harry rushed in at a slow jog. His hair was even messier than usual and he had dark circles under his eyes but he still managed to form a cheerful smile at the sight of his family.

Lily beat James and Albus to be the first out of her chair and in her fathers arms. He seemed thinner than usual and Lily worried that he might have lost some weight from all the stress.

Once Harry had greeted each of his children and wished Lily a happy birthday he finally took his seat next to her at the small table. But as he did he appeared to spot something over the other side of the restaurant and he let out a groan.

'Malfoy' he muttered darkly under his breath, causing Lily to freeze up in surprise.

She inclined her head to the side ever so slightly so that she could see who her father was glaring at.

A very old, but handsome man with long silvery hair sat behind them at a table in the very far corner deep in conversation with an anxious looking Dennis Creevy. His clothes were even more worn than Scorpius's father's had been and his crumpled shirt and tired face gave off the impression that he hadn't been looking after him self very well for quite some time.

Lily was surprised at the resemblance the man shared with Scorpius. The shape of his nose and jawline, as well as his pale, clear skin were identical. It was only the color of his eyes, which were an unsettling icy blue, that differentiated him from what Lily imagined Scorpius might look like at that age.

Mr Creevy's flustered manner was in great contrast to the elderly man, who despite his pitiful attire, appeared domineering and rather formidable.

'Lucius Malfoy? What's he doing here?' Ginny asked, showing just as much distrust and alarm as her husband.

'He's been pestering anyone who will listen to him to get his grandson into an internship in the Ministers office…' Harry replied in a whisper, rolling his eyes.

Lily's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Scorpius.

'…wants to set him up as Junior Assistant to the Minister for Magic' Harry snorted.

'Junior Assistant?' Ginny looked amused. 'What? Like Percy was for Barty Crouch?'

'Word is he's trying to reclaim some of the influence and respect the Malfoy name used to garner by putting a Malfoy in the Ministers Office' Harry muttered, sounding like he thought the whole thing was a joke.

Lily grabbed a piece of bread and tried very hard to look like she was enjoying it as she forced it painfully down her dry throat.

'Didn't you take him as your Second to the dueling tournament?' James asked Albus abruptly.

'Do you think he's out to become Minister for Magic?'

Harry and Ginny looked over in surprise and turned their attention to Albus.

'I dunno…' Albus mumbled, looking uncomfortable. 'Seemed like he was more interested in becoming a healer if you ask me…'

'He was your Second at the tournament?' Harry asked offhandedly.

'Yeah, I mean, he's actually pretty alright. And he really seemed to want to go' Albus explained defensively.

'He even gave Thomas a really good broom in exchange for taking his place…'

'Typical Malfoy' Ginny chuckled. 'Buying favors to- argh!'

Suddenly Ginny's wine glass exploded causing the entire restaurant to go silent. All eyes were on their table as a surprised waiter rushed over with his wand raised to gather up the pieces of glass and clean away the spilt beverage.

The commotion had alerted Lucius Malfoy to their presence and he appeared startled to see them there. He slammed a bundle of galleons onto the table beside Hazel's father and swiftly exited the restaurant.

As soon as the waiter had left them and the sound of cutlery clanging against plates began to fill the air again, the entire Potter family turned questioningly to Lily.

'It was an accident' she muttered moodily.

Ginny and Harry exchanged a concerned look and Ginny opened her mouth to ask what was wrong but Lily got in before her.

'I just don't know why we have to spend today gossiping about someone else's family when we've hardly seen each other all summer' Lily moaned, knowing she would be hitting her father where it hurt but wanting to deflect the conversation away from Scorpius all the same.

Harry sighed and winced with guilt.

'You're right Lils. Sorry'

Their meals began to arrive, which was a welcome distraction from the awkwardness and Lily did her best to focus on getting her food down rather than fuming over the conversation about her friend.

After a while, Harry put his knife and fork down and cleared his throat.

'I uh, I have an announcement to make' he began, exchanging a knowing look with Ginny.

'One of the reasons I've been a bit busy of late is that I've been preparing for a promotion'

Lily stopped chewing and watched her father carefully.

'From next week I'll be taking on the role of Head of the Auror Office' Harry finished with a small smile.

'Woah' said James, sounding impressed.

'That's incredible, congratulations dad' Albus appeared sincerely in awe of him.

Lily however was watching her mother. This obviously wasn't the first time Ginny was hearing the news, and she had done her best to put on a happy face but Lily could sense her apprehension. The Head of the Auror Office was a notoriously strenuous and dangerous job under usual circumstances, but Harry would be taking it on at the height of one of Britain's worst outbreaks of magical disease.

Lily spent the remainder of the dinner quietly considering what this might mean for her and her suspicions towards Raleigh and whether it might be worth trying to get some kind of evidence together to show her father now that he would be in a position of higher influence.

Desert came and was devoured all too soon. Then suddenly it was time for them to go but Harry made it clear that he would be staying back a bit later. Before they said their farewells however, Harry called Lily over and for a few moments their family stood gathered before the enormous Fountain of Magical Brethren at the centre of the atrium.

'Could you come up to my office for a bit before you go Lily?' Harry asked.

'We'll wait for you here dear' Ginny appeared to have been forewarned about this request.

'Can I come too?' Albus asked immediately.

'Not this time' Harry said with an apologetic smile that didn't succeed in stopping Albus from looking disappointed.

It was strange walking through the Ministry so late at night. The majority of the staff had of course gone home and so it was much quieter than usual, but even so Lily could still hear various strange sounds coming from behind every closed door that they walked past. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement was located on level two, so they had quite a long way to travel upwards from level eight and it seemed that her father preferred to use the stairs. Lily didn't mind. It was the first time that she had ever had a chance to get a good look at the place where her father spent so much of his time.

When they finally arrived at the entrance to the Auror Office, Harry placed what appeared to be a golden coin-like pendant on a heavy chain around her neck.

'You'll need to keep that pass on you or else the intruder charms will go off' he explained.

Lily nodded to show that she understood she needed to make sure to keep it on. She wondered why he'd gone to so much trouble to take her up there, considering it had cost him the extra trouble of preparing the pendant. If he had wanted to give her a birthday present, surely he could have handed it to her in the atrium.

It seemed that Harry was in the process of moving his belongings from his old office to this new one. Boxes lined the walls and piles of papers were strewn all over every surface. There were more books on the floor than there were on the shelves.

Lily immediately took a seat on one of the swivel chairs across from her fathers new oak desk and began to spin herself around absentmindedly.

Harry was sifting through a particularly large pile of papers looking for something. He pulled a large envelope out from the middle of the pile and walked over to where Lily was still spinning and held it out to her. Lily made herself come to a halt facing him by dragging her feet on the ground.

Slowly she took the envelope from him and put a hand inside to take the contents out.

'I shouldn't be showing you this' Harry said gravely. 'It's confidential actually…'

This only made Lily's curiosity burn fiercer and she quickly pulled the contents out and looked down at them before her father could change his mind.

Lily's throat went dry and her heart skipped a beat.

At the top of the page in typed letters were the words 'Incident Report Form' and just below that in a scruffy handwriting was the name 'Voyer Turnkey'.

But of course, Lily realized with a start. Turnkey had said only the Head of the Auror Office had access to the cases that the Unspeakables were working on. He had promised that her father would never find out about Lily's possession of the locket. But now that her father was the Head of the Auror Office it seemed that he had been unable to keep that promise.

With the back of her neck now covered in a cold sweat, Lily flicked quickly through the pages. The majority of it was a hand written description of the locket and it's magical properties. There didn't seem to be any mention of the unfortunate kidnapping of Mr Turnkey at the hands of Nicolas. Lily swallowed hard and wondered how far she could weasel her way out of this one.

'What is this?'

She did her best to sound casual but deception had never been her forte.

Harry let out a sigh. He moved forward and took the pages back from her again shuffling through them until he came to one towards the end of the pile. He held it out to her and pointed to the bottom corner of it.

Under a section called 'procurement' Voyer had simply written 'Lily L. Potter'.

Lily kept her eyes on the page, not daring to look up and show her father the panic in her eyes.

'Can you explain to me why your name is on this document Lily?' Harry said carefully. Lily could tell that he was forcing himself to stay calm. She had never really seen her father get truly angry before but she didn't doubt that he was close to becoming so now.

'I don't know… it's very strange…' she replied weakly, keeping her eyes lowered.

'It says here-' Harry's voice became a little louder.

'-that this locket gives the wearer the ability to speak Parseltongue'

Lily held her breath. She said nothing and the room fell into a tense silence. Harry put the pages back in the envelope and returned them to his desk before taking a deep breath.

'Lily, do have any idea how worried I was about you?' His voice trembled as he addressed her.

'I thought you had somehow been infected by the dark bond that Voldemort and I shared whilst I was a Horcrux… I thought that you might have some of him living inside you. The fear of it consumed me for months!'

Lily felt her heart contract as guilt squeezed it painfully.

'Why didn't you tell me about this?' Harry demanded, his voice rising again. 'You knew all along and you had ample opportunity to let me know-'

'Since when do you listen when I have something to tell you' Lily lifted her face and shot back, surprising even herself.

Harry's mouth fell open in surprise. Lily took a deep breath and went on.

'I've been telling you this whole time that there is something wrong at Hogwarts with Professor Raleigh, but you never listen- you never believe me-!'

Harry let out a groan and shook his head at her.

'Roger Raleigh? Please Lily not that again-'

'How was I to know that you'd even believe me even if I'd told you about the locket-' Lily went on in distress. She knew that she sounded ridiculous and that her logic wasn't quite lining up but somehow her frustration over the past year of worrying over Albus and finding out terrible truths from Alasdair came bubbling to the surface.

'Where did you get the locket Lily?' Harry cut across her in frustration.

Lily could only feel the fast beating of her heart. Every other part of her felt like it had frozen. There was just no way she could tell him that without him getting the wrong idea.

'I don't want to lie to you dad' Lily's voice came out in a soft plea.

'You already have been apparently!' Harry snapped. Then he put a hand to his forehead, let out a sigh and then turned to her once more with an apologetic but determined look in his eyes.

'Just tell me where you got it Lily, please'

For a moment, all that could be heard was the sound of Lily's sharp intakes of breath as she stared at the floor in front of her.

Then she lifted her face to look at Harry in the eyes. He didn't seem so angry anymore- just distressed. But as much as she would have liked to make the anguish in his features disappear she couldn't bring herself to do it.

'No'

Lily's voice came out in a whimper and she could already feel the tears rolling down her face. She jumped off the chair and bolted out of the office.

'Lily!' Harry yelled after her, stunned by her reaction.

He had to run very quickly to keep her in his sight as they played a game of cat and mouse through the corridors. Lily was just as fast a runner as she was a flyer and no matter how much Harry yelled out her name she had no intention of stopping.

'The pass! At least give the pendant back!' Harry yelled out desperately as they came to the top of the stairs that lead down from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement into the next department.

Lily skidded to a halt and reluctantly took the chain off of her neck. She jogged it back to where her father stood panting a few hundred meters behind her. Lily avoided looking him in the eyes but as soon as Harry had the pendant in his fingertips he reached forward and grabbed her by the upper arm so that she couldn't bolt away again.

Lily glared at him as she tried to free herself. Harry meanwhile reached into his pocket with his other hand and pulled out a parcel wrapped in glittery paper.

'Your birthday present' He said sheepishly, forcing the parcel into her hands.

Then he gently let her go. But this time guilt forced Lily to stay put.

She unwrapped the gift to find a shiny new broom compass.

'Thanks dad' Lily murmured, feeling embarrassed and yet still indignant about their argument.

Harry wordlessly pulled her into a tight hug.

'Just be careful won't you Lils?' He begged her softly.


A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading that chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I really love the idea of the Harry/Lily father daughter relationship and I hope that comes out in the writing. I just have to say that I am SO SO excited for what I have planned for the next chapter. Please make sure to follow if you haven't already because I feel like it's going to be a good one and I'd hate for anyone to miss it.