A/N: Hiiii! I'm so sorry about the delay! I completely forgot today was Monday until literally three hours ago. And I've been really busy this week, and didn't have time to re-read the chapter until now, which means that I had to do all the revisions in the past few hours. However, here in Brazil it is still technically Monday (23:57pm), so I'm still in time, I guess? Well, anyway, I think that this HUGE chapter will make up for my lack of punctuality... I hope you like it!

Bloodlines

For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Ron told Lily he had seen Filch scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but it seemed to have had no effect. The words were still there, menacingly reminding the students of the fate of poor Mrs. Norris.

Hector anticipated the first meeting of the Mug Club so the members could discuss the recent events and their feelings about it. The meeting happened on the Monday after the attack. They were all scared of the attacker, of course, but that was not all. Hector told Lily there was a rising suspicion among the group – the threat of another attack made them exclude themselves from their groups. Hector had noticed the muggle borns were isolating themselves in smaller groups composed mostly of other muggleborns, and it worried him.

"If they are alone, they are making themselves perfect targets," he said to Lily when he met her for lunch after the meeting.

Lily wondered if Hector wasn't taking too heavy of a burden on himself, but didn't say anything. She had her worries high enough about keeping Hector safe, she didn't want to get him mad as well. Ginny worried her too. The fate of seemed to have disturbed her deeply, and Lily couldn't find a way to make her cousin say what was actually upsetting her. Ron couldn't tell either, but he thought it was all because Ginny was a great cat lover – Lily thought it was a ridiculous theory. On the other hand, Ron's and Harry's greatest concerns seemed to be towards Hermione, who not only was spending all her spare time on the library, but she hadn't yet agreed to join Hector's club.

On the Wednesday after the attack, Lily had left an extremely boring double History of Magic class – her right cheek was extremely pink, because she had fallen asleep on it – and was heading to lunch before potions. Hannah, Megan and Susan were walking a little bit ahead of her, and were having the same conversation that was running through the hallways: what was the meaning of the message beneath ' petrified body?

"I wrote to my grandmother about it, but she didn't know," said Susan.

"Apparently it has something to do with Slytherin," said Lily.

"Holly thinks the Heir might be Draco Malfoy, can you imagine it?" Said Megan.

"Draco Malfoy, heir of something besides his father's mansion? No way. He's a spoiled brat, that's all," said Hannah.

Lily hadn't asked her mother and Remus about the Chamber of Secrets, but she didn't think they had the answer to the enigma. In fact, Lily hadn't said anything about the incident yet, she was worried that her mother would try and convince Rachel to pull Hector out of Hogwarts for the year, and have him homeschool him until the whole thing was over.

"I don't think your mother would compromise Hector's learning, Lily. She was a Hufflepuff, and we don't run away from our problems." Megan said when she confided her concerns to the other girls. "She even fought in the war, didn't she?"

"She did."

"I don't know, Meg. Lily's mom fled, after all," said Hannah.

"But only after she found out she was pregnant." It was only after the three girls looked at her in shock that Lily noticed she had overspoken. She quickly tried to explain herself without any more exposition. "Yeah, it's something I was told about only this summer. My father was actually someone else."

"A wizard?" asked Hannah.

"Yes"

"Who?"

"I don't know," Lily lied. She tried to keep a straight face, but for some reason her eyes always got slightly teary when she lied.

"You are lying!" Hannah pointed. "Who was it? There's nothing to be ashamed of! Was he on You-Know-Who's side? Was it, like, a great forbidden romance?"

"Stop it, Hannah! I don't know anything about him," Lily felt her face redden in rage.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to upset you or anything. It's fine, you don't have to tell me," said Hannah, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to yell," Lily said. "I promise I'll tell you when I'm ready, but talking about this is hard for me."

"Alright, let's go down to lunch, okay? This subject is over," Megan commanded, and started heading to the Great Hall.

On their way down to the dungeon for potions class, Lily was still thinking if she shouldn't just tell her friends the truth about Sirius Black and let it be. But how to gather the courage to say so? She hadn't even told Snape about it! It wasn't even her secret to tell.

That was when Justin Finch-Fletchley came from the opposite direction. He looked pale as a ghost and was nearly running away from something.

"Justin! Justin what is it?" Megan grabbed the boy by the arm and didn't let go.

"Harry Potter is down there. I went to class early, and he was down there, cleaning the desks."

"So what?" asked Lily.

"I am muggle born!"

"So…"

"He was there on the night of the attack! Just beneath ! And he wasn't in the Great Hall during the feast!"

"Do you really think Harry Potter could be the attacker? Why would he do something like that?" said Susan.

"I don't know… but I'd rather not risk my own neck!"

"Oh, please! Harry wouldn't just go around attacking muggle borns. Hermione is a muggle born and she is his best friend, remember?" Lily said.

"So what? He could spare just her!"

"Justin, this is nonsense. Come, let's go downstairs together. Even if you are right and Harry is the attacker he won't do anything against five of us at once," said Megan. Justin reluctantly agreed to let them take him down to the dungeons, passing by Harry as he left. When they entered the classroom, Snape was the only one inside. Justin sat down at the desk closest to the wall.

Lily went to the front row as usual and listened quietly as Snape gave the same speech he had given the year before. They would finally get out of theory and brew the first potion of that year, which would be an easy fire protection potion. Snape only allowed a few moments to revise and gather the ingredients before they began chopping and boiling. Soon Lily felt a cool blue smoke rise from her cauldron and chill her face, making her sneeze. Snape gave Hufflepuff ten points for having the first fully brewed potion ready in under half an hour, but took another five because Elliot Wheeler had brewed something that somehow made the fire burn faster and smelled suspiciously like gasoline.

The class was over soon, and Lily excused herself from her roommates to stay behind. Snape was sitting at the teacher's desk, checking on samples of the results – he had collected a vial out of each cauldron – and was grading them.

"What is it?"

"I have something to tell you."

"I hope it is about the incident with Filch's cat. It is giving the staff far too much concern."

"It's not. It's about something we were talking about last year…"

"If you won't say it, leave. I have things to do," Snape didn't raise his eyes from the vials.

"My father is Sirius Black."

Snape released the vial he was holding and sat straight on his chair, looking at Lily. She didn't quite know how to interpret his face. He seemed to be dismayed, but not too surprised.

"I suppose we both knew this was more than likely." There was an unusual coldness to his voice.

"Do you think he really did it?" she asked.

"What do you want me to think?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I."

"Do you hate me now?" she asked, looking into Snape's eyes. The man looked back at her, seemingly unsure of what to do.

"I don't," he said at last. "You are not your father."

"You don't like Harry because of his father," Lily pointed.

"It isn't the same."

"How is it any different?"

"I knew you first." Snape answered. Yet he was uneasy, Lily could see. His voice was calm, but she could see he didn't have a clue of what to do with the information she had just given him.

"It's because you were never in love with my mother, isn't it?"

Snape looked like he had been slapped across the face. "Stop," he said quietly.

"You loved Lily Potter," she guessed.

"I said STOP," Snape said firmly and furiously, and Lily realized she had crossed a line.

"I am sorry. I just wondered." Lily could see she had been correct on her guess. Snape had loved Lily Potter. She changed the subject. "Do you know if there is any family from his side that I could meet?"

"I wouldn't look for that lot if I were you," Snape answered, still trying to calm down. "Most of that side of the family is composed of blood supremacists. Most of them are dead, for what I know. One of his cousins is now married to Lucius Malfoy, the other was a Death Eater and is in Azkaban. There is a third cousin, but I don't know where she is."

"Is there a book with the names? Somewhere I could search for my relatives?"

"Yes. The Ministry of Magic keeps a record of every witch and wizard ever born, and their genealogy. There is a book and a quill that write down the names of magical children as soon as they show their first signs of magic the book and the quill have to agree– and there is one copy of the book with the registers in every magic library. You can probably go and borrow it right now, I doubt there will be a long waiting line for it."

"Are muggle borns in the book too?"

"Naturally they are – although their parents' names are not. Why?"

"So…" Lily started. "If someone wanted to find every muggleborn in school right now, all they have to do is go to the library?"

Snape's face became very white.

"Go to the library and bring me that book. Immediately," he commanded. Lily left running so fast that she only realized she had left all her stuff in the dungeons when she was halfway to the library. The library was unexpectedly full for the beginning of the year. There were people from almost all houses and years searching the shelves for books on the Chamber of Secrets – or so Lily assumed –. The Slytherins certainly were, since most of them were loudly talking about how their bloodlines went down for generations of pure magical blood, and how some were supposedly related to Salazar Slytherin himself. She rushed through the sections looking for the book Snape had indicated to her, hoping that the Heir of Slytherin had not arrived before her, but she soon relaxed when she spotted the volume on a high shelf.

It was an awfully heavy tome, bound in high quality leather intrinced with silver details, easily with two thousand pages. With difficulty, she carried the book to Madam Pince, who looked at Lily with wide eyes and mentioned it was the first time anyone had taken that book. The librarian usually was an irritable woman who looked somehow like an underfed vulture, but apparently Lily's reading choice made her put her irritation aside for a moment.

"It's a personal project," Lily said. Madam Pince smiled faintly and registered the book as "borrowed". Lily looked at the registry of that specific tome and noticed it had been last borrowed by someone named T.M Riddle, in 1943.

Madam Pince suggested that Lily performed a weight-lightener spell to carry the tome around, and the girl thought it was a great idea… only to realize her wand was in the dungeons. Madam Pince, however, kindly performed the spell for Lily.

Snape was in his office when Lily arrived back. He had kindly gathered her things on his desk. Lily dropped the book in front of him, and the man raised his head.

"Well, it's safe now. Did anyone take it before you?"

"Just a boy in 1943."

Snape didn't seem to mind the information. "Well, perhaps you want to take a look at it yourself, since you were asking before."

Lily thought it would be a great idea, and opened the book. There was an enormous amount of information, and she had the strange feeling that the book was growing right in front of her eyes. "What is happening?"

"The book is registering wizards and witches as they perform their first accidental spell," Snape explained.

"Can I select information?"

"I think you have to point your wand at it and say the name or the family you are looking for."

Lily looked at the book and said clearly "Sirius Black."

The name appeared in front of her. There was a vertical line connecting him to a horizontal golden line, which connected the names Walburga Black and Orion Black – Lily's grandparents by her father's side. Both were marked as deceased. Sirius Black's name was also connected by a horizontal line to Regulus Arcturus Black. But Lily quickly noticed there wasn't a vertical line descending from Sirius' name. She was not recognized as his daughter.

"Why am I not here?"

"Probably your mother never revealed your paternity to the Ministry of Magic."

"Is it not magically updated too?"

"No. The book only registers the existence of a wizard, and their maternity. Their paternity must be registered manually."

Lily tried again. "Violet Boyd". No name showed up. Her mother probably never notified her marriage to Roger to the Ministry of Magic! Lily didn't like where this was going. "Violet Prewett," Lily tried her mother's maiden name. There it was. And descending from her name there was a vertical line which connected to another name. Lily Prewett.

"Am I not registered as Lily Boyd?"

"Hm?" said Severus.

"In this book, I am registered as Lily Prewett."

"This is- odd. To say the least."

"How am I registered in Hogwarts list?"

"As Lily Boyd," the potions master answered, and took a parchment from the desk. "Here it is," he showed her the list. Lily looked closely at her own name. And then she noticed something, and thought she was very stupid for not realizing it sooner. Her surname in the list was between commas. It was not her legal name! She showed it to Snape.

"Why would my mother do this? My name was Boyd with no commas on my muggle school. Why is it different now?"

"Your mother must never have notified her marriage to t your muggle father, so you were automatically registered as Lily Prewett, your mother's maiden name. Later, thinking that you would find it weird to be called that in Hogwarts, Violet must have sent a letter to the Headmaster asking him to register your name as Boyd in the lists. But since it is not your name in the magical world, it has to be written between commas."

Lily felt like she was going to be sick. The world was spinning around her and she was angry like never before.

"I can't believe it," she said faintly. "She didn't just hide Sirius from me… she hid my father from our world."

"She hid our world from your father too," Snape pointed. "Violet couldn't expose herself."

"But after the war… She should have! How could she do it? She changed my name!"

"This book is about genealogy, not family. And Prewett is a name you should be proud of." Snape said impatiently. Lily stopped and realized she had been throwing a tantrum. She felt ridiculous. "Don't judge Violet for the choices she made to protect you."

"You judge her for choosing Sirius," Lily pointed, even though she actually agreed with Snape. She shouldn't be mad at her mother for what she had done in times of despair.

"I have a reason to. He tried to feed me to a werewolf."

"Can I change my name on the list?"

"To Black? No, you are not recognized as his daughter."

"To Prewett. I don't live as a muggle anymore, this is not my legal name in Hogwarts."

"Don't you want to have your father's name in our world? Don't you want his family name as a memory, at least?"

"His memory is in my head, not in my name. It's not fair to be called by his name here, he didn't know anything. He died not knowing any of this. I shouldn't use his name to keep hiding. I want to use my mother's name."

"Write to Violet," Snape suggested. "She will want to explain herself."

"Alright."

"Go now. Write to your mother, talk to the Allen boy, get this out of your chest. Don't be resentful about this."

Why was Snape giving her that sort of advice, when he was notoriously resentful about so many things? Lily took a deep breath and stood up. She gathered her books and shoved them inside her bag before leaving, still trying to fit her wand into a magically enlarged pocket.

Hector was outside, near the lake with Padma Patil and a pinkish skinned girl with silvery blond, wavy hair.

"Hector?" Lily called. The boy heard the concern in her voice. The girls who were with Hector turned to look at Lily too. The blonde with wavy hair smiled at her.

"I think we never met! I'm Amanda Brocklehurst. Everyone calls me Mandy."

"Hi, Mandy. I'm Lily."

"You are Hector's sister, right?"

"I am," Lily smiled, feeling more comfortable. "I'm sorry, but I have to talk to you for a moment."

Hector followed Lily for a few yards, just so they were far enough not to be heard.

Then she explained everything about the book and about her name.

"This is really unusual. What are you going to do?" said Hector after she finished.

"I'll take it. As a witch, I want my name to be Prewett. I want to have it changed on the Hogwarts lists."

"You can probably change your last name legally."

"I don't think the Ministry of Magic will take it. Even though Roger was the one in my muggle birth certificate, I am not his daughter under the magical laws, Snape explained."

"That's not possible! Isn't there adoption in the magical society?"

"There must be, but he never adopted me in the magical society, did he?"

"Isn't there a way to change that?"

"He can't adopt me now, he's dead."

"Are you okay with this?"

"Of course I am not! My mother lied to me about my father, lied to both my fathers about me and changed my name!" Lily spat. "I can't begin to say how angry I am. But Snape is right, I can't judge her."

"Come here," Hector said and held Lily, running his fingers through her hair. "It wasn't fair to hide this from you." Lily tried not to cry. It was hard.

"I'm sure there was a good reason. She must have been scared," She said with a trembling voice. But she didn't cry.

Hector held her for a while, until Lily took a deep breath and pulled away. The boy placed a long red curl behind her ear, helping her look a little less swollen and humiliated.

"What do you want to do?"

"I told you, I will take it. Lily Prewett will be my name from now on. I won't use my father's name to hide anymore, it's not fair. I love him, and he will be in my memories forever, but his name won't be my shield anymore," Lily said. Her voice was trembling, but she was very sure. "I will write to my mother and to Dumbledore right now."

"Well if this is what you want, it's fair enough. But maybe wait a few days, in case you change your mind."

"I won't change my mind."

"Then at least wash your face with cold water, your face is red, like you just had some really bad allergic reaction," Hector mocked her, trying to make her smile.

"I'm glad you told your friends from Ravenclaw that I am your sister. You are the only constant I have in the middle of this chaos," she said.

"That is really sweet," Hector smiled. But then his smile vanished. "Speaking of chaos, Mandy thinks she figured what the message on the wall meant. She managed to get a copy of Hogwarts: A History from the library before anyone else could. It's kind of a long story, apparently, she was about to tell me and Padma."

"Oh, that's great. Let's hear it."

Hector guided her back to the spot where Padma and Mandy were sitting, waiting for them. Now that she had relaxed a bit, Lily was starting to feel cold. The blonde girl started to speak.

"There isn't a lot of information in Hogwarts, a History, but there is some. As we all know, Hogwarts had four founders, the most brilliant wizards in Great Britain in the tenth century – Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin. They all lived in harmony in Hogwarts, and taught the students. Helga Hufflepuff convinced the other founders that Hogwarts should be a place for every wizarding child, and all agreed to take them in, even the children of muggles. All, except for Slytherin, who believed Howarts should be a place for high borns… in other words, he only wanted to teach pure-bloods."

"So that's where this lunacy came from," said Hector.

"Anyway, at some point there was a big fight between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and the latter decided to leave Hogwarts. But before he left, he built the Chamber of Secrets, hidden in the castle, so his heir could open it and unleash the horror hidden inside, which would purge the school of the low-borns," Mandy finished the story. Lily felt terribly cold, and moved closer to Hector.

"So the heir of Slytherin is in the school now? And the Chamber of Secrets has been open?"

"That was the message on the wall," said Padma. "How can we be sure, though? Maybe it's just a pure-blood supremacist writing messages on the walls and torturing cats," she continued. "Maybe the chamber doesn't exist at all."

"That is the theory. The school has been searched many times, and there was no sign of a Chamber of Secrets."

"But has the heir of Slytherin searched the castle for the Chamber of Secrets? And, if they did, would they reveal the location to the others instead of 'unleashing the horror hidden in there upon the muggle borns'?" said Hector.

"I have a pendant that reacts to dark magic," Lily said, showing the tiny black badger. "It bites me when there is something bad happening around. It warned me last year when You-Know-Who was in the school. It bit me pretty badly twice this year, and one of those times was when Mrs. Norris was attacked."

"So Slytherin's weapon has been used? Against ?" asked Mandy.

"I think so. I just wonder what it is," said Hector.

"Maybe it's a spell. A spell Slytherin invented to petrify people."

"I don't think there are many students here who are qualified to open the Chamber of Secrets and use a thousand-year-old secret spell," pointed Hector.

"But I can tell there is one who really hates muggleborns more than an average Slytherin," said Lily.

"Who? Draco Malfoy? I told you, I don't think he has the nerve," said Hector.

"To actually raise his wand and kill another student? I guess you're right about that. But I'm sure he has the nerve to do that to a cat and write a menacing message on the wall."

"There's just one problem: Malfoy was at the feast," said Mandy.

"What if the heir of Slytherin doesn't have to be there for the attack itself? What if the weapon is something like a time-bomb?" Lily said to Hector.

"It could be!" Hector said at the same time as Mandy, which made Lily realize Mandy had at least one muggle parent.

"A what?" said Padma, who didn't have muggle relatives.

"It's a bomb, but you can actually set the time you have until it explodes," Lily quickly explained. "Or maybe it's something alive. Could be a monster."

"I never heard of a beast able to do something like this," Padma pointed. "Not even in horror stories."

"We should ask professor Binns," said Hector.

"I wish we had a good Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," said Mandy.

"It would be helpful right now," said Padma. "My sister, Parvati, absolutely loves Lockhart, though. She read all his books."

"I would be surprised if he did half of the stuff he wrote."

"Yeah… it's funny that he only fights beasts in other countries," said Mandy. They all giggled, and Lily finally excused herself to go write to her mother, feeling way more light hearted.

She walked up the trail which led back to the castle and was about to take a turn to go down towards her common room when she saw Percy talking to the Ravenclaw prefect, Penelope Clearwater. He was angrily complaining about Ron's lack of responsibility. "Walking into a girl's bathroom… what was he thinking?," he said.

Lily wondered what Ron would be doing in a girl's bathroom, and decided to ask him later. She went on down the stairs to the basement and crawled through the entrance to Hufflepuff's common room. It was way warmer than the rest of the castle – the low ceiling and the constantly going fireplace kept it comfortable, as did the high amount of blankets available to the most cold-sensitive students. The girl went up and, trying to remain calm, composed a letter to her mother.

Mom,

Things are getting really weird. , Filch's cat, was petrified. Apparently, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened – do you know something about what is inside it? I am worried about Hector. He is a muggleborn, and he has created a club for muggleborns. I'm scared that he will get hurt.

Anyway, something happened. I was just going by a book with the registered names of witches and wizards of Great Britain, and I happened to get to your name… and I realized that you did not register me as Lily Boyd, but as Lily Prewett. But you asked Dumbledore to change it to Boyd on the school list. Why has it happened? Why did you hide it from me? You could at least have told me that my name would be different and made up a reason for that… you really went too far this time. I'm really, really mad at you, just so you know. I know you went through a lot too, and I know it will be fine eventually… I just need some time to get adjusted. I will ask Dumbledore to change my name on the lists back to Lily Prewett. I don't want to use dad as someone to hide behind anymore, he means so much more than that to me… I know he means a lot more to you as well, but, you know, he was my dad. Please, do not question this decision, it's important to me.

Please, if there is anything else you are not telling me, write it on your next letter so I am not taken off guard anymore.

Love,

Lily.

She tied the parchment and left for the owlery to find Helga and send the letter. On her way, she found Ginny. The girl looked pale and upset.

"Hey, Ginny! How are you doing?"

"F-fine," she answered.

"I don't think you are. Hey, I'm heading for the owlery, maybe you can tell me what is upsetting you on our way there."

"Hm, okay."

The girls walked slowly to the west wing,. Neither of them had any more classes on that day, so they could take their time. Lily smiled to herself, noticing how much she and her cousin looked alike, except that Ginny had hazel eyes and straight hair. It also looked like Ginny would be taller than Lily.

"So… is it about Harry?"

"Well… a bit," the girl confessed. Lily could tell it wasn't all, but chose to ignore it, since it was the first real conversation she had with Ginny. "Have you ever liked a boy?"

"I don't think I have" Lily answered honestly. In fact, when other girls were gossiping about their current crushes, the only thought on her mind was usually Heidi Macavoy's shiny dark hair.

"It's weird. I can't stop thinking about him. I really love him. There's something about his eyes…" Ginny blushed, but just faintly. "I could look at them all day long."

Lily smiled.

"Have you ever tried to tell him?"

"I don't think he likes me back…" she said sadly. "Why would he? I mean… I'm not so pretty, and I don't even have new robes, they are all second handed."

"I think you are pretty. Anyway, we look alike. If you are saying you are not pretty, then neither am I."

"No, you are pretty. You have that curly hair, and your eyes are of a different colour. I mean… hazel eyes are ordinary, grey eyes catch attention."

Lily blushed, at the same time as she went sad. Her grey eyes again. The thought of Sirius Black rotting in a cell in Azkaban creeped into her mind.

"You know, Ginny, I'm not going through a good moment either," she said.

"Oh. Why?"

"I just found out that my mother hid some things from me. Some important things, I mean."

"Well… do you want to tell me? Maybe it helps."

"Sure," Ginny said.

"My father wasn't a muggle. He was a wizard my mother loved a long time ago. She fled the war because she was pregnant with me."

"No way!" Ginny said. "Who?"

"I promised her I wouldn't say."

"Oh, please! I promise I won't tell anyone. Not even your parents."

"I can't. I would, if it was my secret. But it's not a good thing to be his daughter, apparentely."

"Was he a Death Eater?"

"I don't think he was, and neither does my mom, she says he is a good man. There were Death Eaters in his family, though."

"Oh, Merlin! He is alive?"

"Yes, but I never met him… and I think I never will."

Ginny had her eyes wide open. Lily felt a little bit guilty for spilling her mother's secrets around like that, but after all Ginny was her family and Lily hadn't really told who it was.

"Just please, remember this is a secret, okay?" Lily insisted.

"I won't tell, I promise. I won't even write in my diary about this, so no one will ever know."

"Thank you, Ginny."

"I think it's very romantic," said the younger girl. "Your mother had a great forbidden romance and a secret child!"

"I suppose it is very romantic, after all. Of course, it's also really weird when you are the secret child," Lily giggled. She had never actually tried to see Violet's actions the results of a romance, and thinking about it made it easier.

As soon as they arrived at the owlery, Helga flew towards Lily and landed on her shoulder, letting out an affectionate hoot. The girl tied the letter to the owl's leg and caressed her feathers. Helga gave another hoot and took off through the window.

The girls went back down and said goodbye to each other. Ginny walked away with her head a bit more raised than usually, and Lily felt way better.

On that same afternoon, Lily went to Dumbledore to explain she wanted to change her name back. Even though she thought she had already done enough, and wanted to give herself a break at least until the end of the week to deal with everything that had suddenly been thrown onto her back, Lily knew that the sooner she got everything solved, the sooner she would be able to sleep in peace. So, before night had fallen, Lily left her common room again to go to Dumbledore's office.

She had expected a long conversation with the headmaster, as she tried to explain why that was her choice and he tried to counter her ideas just so she would be more sure of what he wanted, but Dumbledore did not do that. He calmly let go of the cup of tea he was holding, removed his half moon glasses and watched her with his light blue eyes for several minutes, until she was almost uncomfortable. Then, he said in a low voice.

"Are you absolutely certain of your decision?"

"I am," she said.

He waved his wand at a piece of parchment placed on the desk in front of him. It was done.

"Thank you, professor. This is really important for me," she said before leaving his office, now as Lily Prewett.

A/N: So, what did you think? Did you like it? Please, let me know in the comments.