His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine

A/N: Several people expressed dissatisfaction over my writing and pointed out that Lily shouldn't have hit James in the first place. This is true. But I am not going to go back and change this plot point, because it's a game-changer for the characters. It's also taking place in the 1970's, when there wasn't nearly as much outspokenness about gender equality as there is now, and things were more based around male chivalry, not to mention that the Wizarding world is far behind the Muggle world in terms of social hierarchy and acceptance. I agree that a woman should not strike a man unprovoked, but for the purposes of this story, it's all about the drama.

41. Burnt Letters

Severus found Lily sitting on her bed in her best dress, her legs crossed and a stuffed animal held to her chest. He leaned up against the doorframe, sadness in his eyes as he gazed at her.

"It's been a year," she murmured to the duvet. "A whole year."

Sev didn't know what to say, so he moved into the room and took a seat on the covers, beside her feet.

"So much has happened since—since—and all of it makes me feel like it's been ten years, not one. I feel so guilty, Sev…how can I feel like it's been a decade, not a year?"

"You've been feeling the loss every minute of every day," he said softly. "I think everything that happened over the last year made you grow up a lot faster, and with that you were able to use your sadness and pain to push yourself further. You're a far better Quidditch captain than Potter ever was."

"I feel like I'm insulting his memory by moving on with my life," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"No, no, of course you're not," Sev rebuked softly, moving to sit beside her. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "What would your father think if you put your life on hold forever?"

Lily sniffed and wiped at her face. "That I was being stupid." She gave a great big sigh. "Ugh. I feel terrible."

"That's all right," Severus said, giving her a squeeze. "I feel terrible too."

Lily didn't speak again for several minutes. Her eyes stared off at nothing as she thought about her father, and reflected on the year that had passed since his funeral. Rose had buried her husband in the Ottery St. Catchpole cemetery, since Nurren had not been safe again for them until after Voldemort's death. It was a small comfort, knowing he was close. They were going to the gravesite later that morning to pay their respects, though Severus suspected that Rose would rather do that ritual alone rather than with her daughters or the small Prince family.

For now, it was enough for both Severus and Lily to draw comfort from each other, knowing that Mark Evans had tried to fight in his last moments to give his family time to escape.

"We should get ready to go," Lily finally said when she heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

It was the third day of summer, and Remus had just sat down to dinner with his parents when a knock came from the front door. "I'll get it," he said, and rose to answer it. He was entirely surprised by the presence of the Headmaster, who gave him a smile that was unaccompanied by the usual twinkle in his eyes.

"May I enter, Mr. Lupin?" he asked politely, as Remus had failed to invite him in.

"Oh—yeah, of course, Professor." He stepped away from the threshold and Dumbledore stepped inside; he did a quick twirl with his wand and a new ward rose around the Lupin residence. "Sir?" Remus asked curiously.

"Simply a quick ward, to prevent unwanted inquiries," Dumbledore hedged, since it was actually a spell to blur the memories of any person not in the Lupin family who had seen him enter the house. "I must speak with you and your parents."

"Right—just through here," Remus said with a gesture to the kitchen. "Can I get you a plate? We just started dinner—"

Suddenly the Headmaster looked incredibly guilty. "Forgive me, Remus, for intruding. I felt the news must be imparted immediately." They entered the kitchen and Mr. and Mrs. Lupin rose to greet Dumbledore. Remus got a plate out of the cupboard and dished up some food for Dumbledore despite the lack of confirmation that he'd be staying for longer than a few minutes. "I'm sorry to report that after long stalls and deliberations, the Wizengamot has voted on Madame Umbridge's proposals."

Remus froze.

"It is not as dire as it could be," Dumbledore amended, "but it is certainly not the best. The Registration Act and its subsections have been passed. The Banishment Act was, thankfully, thrown out."

Almost afraid to ask, Remus managed to say, "What does this mean for me? For all of us?"

Dumbledore turned his sad gaze on the Gryffindor. "In an extraordinary overhaul of the Werewolf Registry, all werewolves must register with the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, within a year of the passage. Failure will result in steep fines and time spent in Azkaban upon discovery, and a new department is being formed to track suspected werewolves who refuse to come forward. Children who register will be barred from attending Hogwarts, and adults who register will find their employment options reduced to a mere fraction of what has been available until now."

Lyall gripped Hope's and his son's hands in his own.

"What do we do?" Remus whispered anxiously.

"It is simple," Dumbledore said. "Do not register. You will be safe under my influence and the protection of your friends—particularly young Mr. Prince. I trust the plan you have made with him in the event of exposure will be swiftly executed—should it come to that."

Remus nodded. He hadn't told his parents this plan yet, hoping beyond hope that the laws would be blocked in their entirety. He turned to his parents. "If someone tells on me," he said shakily, "then we're all to move to the Prince Estate in Lancashire—it's one of the most strongly warded estates in Britain, and it's Unplottable. If the Tonks family is harassed or attacked—they'll move there too. Their daughter was bitten in February."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Hope asked, her eyes shining.

"You know it's not safe to talk about this in letters," Remus said while looking at the table, "and I wasn't home for Easter."

Dumbledore spoke before Lyall could respond. "Do forgive him. He had a very trying year, and I believe we are all still adjusting back to life before Lord Voldemort."

Lyall was the only one in the room who flinched. "Has there been any word about Greyback?" he asked, shifting his attention from his son to the Headmaster.

"No," Dumbledore replied, shaking his head. "He has been very clever at avoiding any Wizarding population, even during the full moon. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what he's waiting for, unless he is still suffering the after effects of being hit by a Blasting Curse."

Remus saw the look of confusion on his mother's face. "The man who stopped the attack, Siger Holmes, managed to curse Greyback as he was fleeing the Tonks house."

"Good riddance," Lyall said gruffly.

"Regardless of whatever state he is in," Dumbledore continued, "you must be vigilant. There is nothing preventing him from targeting your family again. Remus, I am sure Mr. Prince has been teaching you some warding spells and other defensive tactics to employ in such an event. Is he?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, he's been showing all of us. Including the Patronus messages," he added, and watched the Headmaster's eyebrow go up in surprise.

"I am impressed," Dumbledore praised. "That is a complicated bit of magic."

"Yeah…well, Sev's a good teacher." They shared a cat-ate-the-canary look that neither Lyall nor Hope understood.

The Headmaster stayed for dinner, but left soon thereafter to take care of business at Hogwarts—he hadn't needed to draw up a renewal contract for a Defense Professor in many decades, and needed to check on Professor Pink to make sure nothing had killed him yet.

"It's extra strength," Severus said. "Remus tells me that when he was younger the pain was worse, since sometimes it happened concurrently with growth spurts." He set the case of Wolfsbane phials on the table, enough for at least six months. "Be careful with the dosage—too much might cause damage to her pain receptors. I've written out detailed instructions."

Ted Tonks firmly grasped Sev's hand and shook it. "We can't thank you enough," he replied, drawing Andromeda to his side and kissing her temple. "I don't know what we would've done without your help."

Severus smiled at the relieved parents. "I'm sure you would have had plenty of help from the neighbors."

Andromeda nodded. "Yes, they have been so good to us. Renly has been here nearly every day, playing with Dora. I think the attention helps her cope…she's still too young to really understand…"

"I know." Sev cleared his throat, and continued, "Did you see this morning's Prophet? There was an article on the front page…"

Ted exchanged a glance with his wife. "Yes, we wanted to ask you about that. She already knows what happened to Dora, so we can't try to escape from registering…"

"That's exactly what I was afraid of. There's no telling how the register is going to be used, and the worst thing would be a weapon of discrimination." Sev sat down. "I'll keep on top of information coming out of the Ministry—I know some people there—and all you need to let me know is whether Ministry workers show up unannounced and try to intimidate you."

"What—"

"Surprise inspections, making sure you have a proper room for her during the full moon, things like that. I believe they'll be scrutinizing as though the Wolfsbane doesn't exist, because Umbridge wishes it didn't. So—if they do that, tell me. My ancestral homes are Unplottable, and I've offered one of the manors as sanctuary to the Lupin family should they be targeted. It's free to you as well, should it come to that."

Andromeda stared, her eyes watery. "You are too kind, Severus."

Sev shifted uncomfortably. "Please don't make it a big deal, Mrs. Tonks. I'm only trying to help fight the injustice coming out of the Ministry. I'd do it for any families who feel persecuted, werewolf or not."

"Your mother must be so proud of you," Andromeda whispered.

They talked for a while longer until Severus had to return home, and he Flooed back to the flat in Ottery St. Catchpole in time for dinner.

Lily sat at the kitchen table with a letter in her hands. Her owl, Ares, roosted with Artemis at the window above the sink. Sev brushed the soot from his clothing and sat next to her while their mothers made dinner. "Where's Petunia?"

"Having dinner at the Diggory house," Rose replied as she dumped a bowl of peeled potatoes into a pot. "Cordon invited her over while you were at the Tonks."

"Sev," Lily said from beside him. "Read this." She handed him the parchment. "He must think he's trying awfully hard."

My Dearest Lily,

I am so, so sorry. I can't believe what I did, and I can't believe how frozen I was when McGonagall came. I want you to know that I am truly sorry, and I will do anything for your forgiveness. I will do whatever I can to make it up to you.

Yours Most Sincerely,

James H. Potter

Severus snarled in disgust at the letter in his hands. "How dare—" he stopped when Lily laid a hand on his arm.

"I'm not going to dignify him with a response," she said, an expression of equal revulsion on her face. "Our bet's still on, you know. He hasn't axed it with Mary as far as we've heard, and frankly, I'm astounded at his nerve. He's got to know how many people will pummel him once we're back at school if he keeps this up." She plucked the letter from Sev's clenching hands and went to the fireplace. "Mum, I'm going to burn this. Can I use magic?"

Rose looked over her shoulder at her daughter. "Why can't you use a match?"

Lily grimaced. "It would be far more satisfactory if I killed it with magical fire," she said, holding up the letter. "It's from the boy who hit me a couple weeks ago at school."

Rose frowned. "That Potter boy? May I read it?"

Lily shrugged, holding it out for her mother to take. "I guess so, it's not like I feel obligated to keep him a secret."

Mrs. Evans took the letter and quickly read it, her expression growing pinched and displeased. "He sounds like the sort of person who doesn't know what the word 'no' means."

"You hit that nail on the head," said Severus from the table.

Rose handed the letter back to her daughter. "Go ahead, use magic."

Lily placed the parchment in the fireplace, pointed her wand at it, and murmured, "Incendio." It burst into flame, crackling and popping as the ink and fibers went up in smoke and fire. When it exhausted its own fuel, it went out with a snuff, and the smoke furled up the chimney. "Well that was nice," Lily said. "Kind of cleansing." She returned to the table and rested her head against her boyfriend's shoulder. "How'd it go with the Tonks?"

"I gave them six months' worth of extra strength. Early-age transformations are a lot more painful."

"What about the registration act?"

"They have to register because they've already been singled out by Umbridge. I said that if the Ministry tries intimidation tactics or attempts to remove Dora from their care to tell me, that way we can relocate them to the Lancashire estate."

"Speaking of which," Eileen spoke up from the stove, "is that manor house livable? If you're offering it as sanctuary for werewolf families it should be properly kept. Maybe we should get a House-Elf or two to spruce it up."

Lily and Severus exchanged a glance. "Can we visit it this weekend to see?"

"Yes, I'd quite like to see it again myself." Eileen pulled plates from the cupboard. "I grew up there, actually. Lancashire is the largest manor house. My grandparents lived at the Glastonbury estate, though after they died it passed to my parents."

"Mum," Severus said slowly, "when we changed our name and you said the manor was in a trust for me…which manor did you mean?"

Eileen stopped fussing with the dishes and joined her son at the table. "All of them, Severus. I have no desire to live in such large mansions deep in the country, surrounded by wards. I like it here. I have friends here. I couldn't help Molly and Arthur with their brood if I didn't live so close."

"But Mum…I don't even know how many manors we own—"

Eileen smiled. "In all honesty, neither do I. I only ever visited two, though from our vaults I think it's safe to say there are a fair number more than that."

"But…what would I do with them all?"

Eileen reached out and ruffled her son's hair. "You seem to be coming up with ideas just fine yourself. I never would have thought of making one into a werewolf refuge."

"That's only if the Ministry goes too far—"

"Which they will as long as that Umbridge woman is allowed to continue drafting discriminatory laws."

The stove timer went off, and Rose removed the pot of boiling potatoes from the range.

"Severus, Lily…" Eileen reached out and took both their hands. "What you are doing for these families…for all the werewolves in Britain…you're the first. You're the first to have successfully stood up to the Ministry and I could not be more proud of you both."

Sev felt the heat rising up his neck while he stared at the table. Lily nudged him with her shoulder. "Thank you, Mrs. Prince," she said with a smile.

"Now then," Eileen said with a clap of her hands. "Who's ready for dinner?"

Saturday came rather slowly for the joint Prince/Evans household. The summer was shaping up to be a lazy one, but Eileen had made arrangements with Gringotts for herself, Severus, and Lily, to visit the Prince Estate at Lancashire, where Eileen had spent her childhood. She secured the instructions to cross the ancestral wards that her family had installed over the estate following the witch trials, and the keys to the grounds. There were several layers of wards over the land, including one making it Unplottable. While this prevented its placement on any map, if one knew where to find it, they'd be one step closer to gaining access. Of course, knowing where the manor was located was only the first step in crossing the wards.

Eileen needed to Side-Apparate both her son and Lily to the outskirts of the Estate, which stretched over six hundred and fifty acres—approximately a square mile—along the coast in Lancashire. The wards extended out onto the beach and ended just beyond the shoreline, which made it impossible for Muggles to put in at the cove, regardless of the tides.

To Muggles, it would look like a very dangerous cliffside with no beach access at all, and if one got too close to the wards a couple other things would happen: they would have a sudden, swirling sensation of darkness to imitate passing out, and then, similar to Quidditch World Cup security standards, they would urgently remember an appointment and dash away. The vision of darkness would then serve as an unconscious motivator to never approach the estate again, and these wards had worked quite well for a number of centuries. As a result of being disinherited, Eileen's knowledge of the ward crossings became obscured, thus the visit to Gringotts.

Everyone, including Petunia, was up early.

Petunia watched with interest as her sister and Severus each gripped one of Eileen's arms, and continued staring for a few seconds after Eileen turned on the spot and disappeared, taking the two Hogwarts students with her. She'd seen Amos Diggory appear with his father while spending time with Cordon once, but watching them disappear was just as if not more interesting.

Eileen, Severus, and Lily arrived on the edge of a huge meadow, with the smell of salt water on the air. The Apparition had taken them to the outer edge of the estate, approximately half a kilometer from the border. Of course, Apparition inside the wards was impossible unless one was already keyed in.

"All right," Eileen said, pulling the parchment instructions from her purse. "It says…I need to cast a rather complex spell…and then the gates require a drop of blood from each entrant; Severus and I will be immediately keyed into the wards, and Lily will be able to pass, but must be escorted by a Prince heir." Eileen took out her wand as they approached the shimmering shield that marked the boundary of the estate wards. "Stand back," she ordered, and shook her sleeves back to gain more freedom of movement, as the incantation required several sweeping wand movements. A moment later she began the spell that would let them pass.

Severus and Lily watched in mixed fascination and apprehension, as neither knew what would happen following the completion of the spell. Mrs. Prince kept chanting for another seven minutes before the shield collapsed, revealing the entrance gate that looked eerily like the gate to Malfoy Manor, which would only let through those with the Dark Mark.

Prince Manor at Lancashire was, to put it mildly, huge. Eileen hadn't been there for almost twenty years, but the curse cast by her father had erased many of her memories of the grounds and the mansion itself. Severus had never seen the property in either of his lifetimes, so the experience was brand new and simultaneously a tiny bit intimidating.

"Time for the blood, I think," Eileen said, a little shaky.

Severus moved forward and gripped his mother by the shoulders. "Are you all right?"

"Yes," she replied. "I don't think my father ever expected me to leave Tobias. The shield was very powerful and took quite a lot of magical energy to break. I will be fine." She stepped back and smoothed her skirt. "The blood now, yes. Have you a knife?"

Severus shook his head. "We don't need one. I have something better." He took his mother's hand and spread it palm up, and then drew his wand over the tip of her index finger. Blood welled up with the nonverbal Sectumsempra, and she drew it over the bars of the gate before Sev healed the incision. He did the same to himself and then Lily, and as one the three passed through the gate as if it were made of naught but smoke.

The Prince Estate manor loomed high above them. With crossing the wards, the dark mist shrouding the land lifted, and sunlight streamed across the ragged lawns and overgrown orchards, since it had been ten years since Mr. and Mrs. Abraxus Prince had died and left the house empty. The house must have been nearly ten thousand square feet just on the ground floor. There were three levels of windows, and Eileen remembered that a basement existed somewhere below the ground.

"It's enormous," Lily said in awe as she gripped Sev's hand. "You grew up here?"

"I did," Eileen answered. "My parents were not the warmest parents in the world, and I didn't have any siblings. I was an extremely shy child. It was a cold way to grow up."

Lily squeezed Sev's hand.

"I think it should take a couple house elves no more than a few months to get the estate livable again," Eileen mused as she produced the keys to the front door sand unlocked the handle.

A cloud of dust exploded from the doorway and Sev instinctively turned to shield Lily with his body. Eileen banished the dust with her wand and motioned for her son and his girlfriend to follow her inside. The foyer was bathed in light from the open door. Severus cast several balls of light into the air, and the house was further illuminated. A sweeping staircase stretched up around the outside of the foyer and up to the second and third floors. It too was caked with dust, which Eileen banished. "You two go explore, see how it could be utilized as sanctuary for the Lupin and Tonks families. Get rid of the dust while you're at it."

"Okay," Sev said, and went down a hallway with Lily behind him. The hallway, as it happened, led to the kitchen, which in direct proportion to the house itself, was massive. "Holy Merlin," Sev breathed, "this must be a quarter of the size of the kitchens at Hogwarts!"

"You're joking—" Lily pushed past him to see, and stared at the room in fascination.

"No, it's got to be. Look how huge it is," Sev said, moving out of Lily's way. Indeed, the length of the room seemed half the length of their incredibly familiar Great Hall, and so was the width.

Lily's jaw dropped. "Two or three house elves…for the whole manse?"

Sev wore a skeptical expression. "We'd do better with maybe five, but just to clean everything up and make it livable again. Elves are really resourceful—many Pureblood families exit with just one or two. The only reason Hogwarts has so many is because it's a school, and two elves can't handle preparing enough food for a thousand people very day."

"Right," Lily agreed, and continued her examination of the cabinets, banishing the dust as she went.

Severus followed her for a while before announcing his intention to move on in the exploration. The house would take a long time to fully explore, and since it had been empty for so long any number of magical pests may have moved in, and Severus suspected there might be a grandfather clock in one of the rooms that might enjoy shooting bolts at passersby. His grandparents hadn't been Dark practitioners in any manner, but old enchanted objects sometimes went wonky with no one to take care of them. The only intended to spend a few hours inspecting it before acquiring the house elves.

They found Eileen up on the second floor, where her bedroom once was. As Eileen had expected, nothing from her childhood remained; it appeared that her mother had turned the bedroom into a study, since the walls were lined with shelves full of books and a massive desk stood in front of the window where her bed used to be.

"I can't say I'm surprised," Eileen said wistfully, gazing at the books. "They changed so much after I married Tobias."

The three ended up exploring the manor house for another few hours before Lily mentioned she was hungry and Severus suggested eating at The Leaky Cauldron. They Disapparated and had a rather satisfying lunch, before going to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, where Eileen filled out the paperwork and paid the fee to Bond two House-Elves to the Prince Estate at Lancashire.

A week later at breakfast, a flashy eagle owl showed up with the rest of the post. A letter with Lily's name scrawled in calligraphy was attached to the owl's leg, and he stuck it out for Rose to remove. "Lily," she said, "this is the same owl that brought that note last week, the one from that Potter boy…" She handed it to her daughter, who sat by herself at the kitchen table, since Severus had offered to get carry out coffee from the café down the street.

She took the letter with her nose wrinkled in disgust, and slit it open.

My Dearest Lily,

Are you all right? I have not heard from you and fear that my first letter did not reach you. Please accept my apology; it was never my intention to hurt you. I know I deserved your slap, I deserved it like Grindelwald deserved Nurmengard.

Please write me.

Yours most sincerely,

James H. Potter

"Ugh," Lily espoused, tossing the parchment onto the table in disbelief. She glanced up to the window, where the eagle owl was still perched, apparently instructed this time to wait for a reply. "I'm not giving you anything," she grumbled. It tilted its head at her, blinked several times, and then let out one hoot, which startled Rose. The owl launched itself out the window and Lily turned her glare on the letter.

"He's not going to keep this up all summer, is he?" her mother asked as she dried her hands on a fresh towel.

"I certainly hope not, but I honestly have no clue what's going on in his head." Lily sighed. "I'm going to have Sev read this when he gets back."

"Have me read what?" came Sev's voice as he closed the door behind him, holding a cardboard carrier with four coffees in it. He handed two of the cups to Lily and Rose, and left the third on the table for Petunia when she emerged.

Lily pointed. "That. He sent another. Read it, and then I'll burn it like I burned the last one."

Severus set his coffee down and picked up the parchment, his expression darkening like it had the previous week with Potter's first correspondence. "I'm going to have words with Al—" but he was cut off by Lily giving him a sharp look, since her mother did not know (and would not understand why) Severus was on a first-name basis with the Headmaster. She took the letter back and dropped it in the fireplace, drawing her wand.

"Mum?" she asked, just to make sure.

Rose nodded. "Go ahead. I think, if Severus's mother is all right with it, that you two can use magic as long as you're in the flat."

Lily and Severus exchanged a glance, and both grinned. "Incendio," Lily incanted, and the second letter from Potter burst into flame.

This pattern of burning letters continued for the next two weeks. Lily got so fed up that she asked Eileen one night at dinner if there was a spell to repel unwanted post from reaching someone.

Eileen looked thoughtful. "I'd have to check the Prince library. It's not something I've ever had to do. I'll pop over tomorrow after breakfast and see what I can find."

The next morning, two owls that belonged to Hogwarts delivered Severus's and Lily's O.W.L results. Lily was just relieved that Potter's owl wasn't back again, and eagerly opened the envelope to pull out her scores. Her eyes quickly scanned the parchment and she grinned, looking up at her mother and Eileen. "Seven!" She handed the scores to her mother and did a little dance in the kitchen. "I passed everything to be a healer! Sev?"

Severus handed Lily his scores, his mouth quirked up in a smile. "Eight. Everything for a Potions Mastery."

"I'm never touching History of Magic, Astronomy, or Divination again!" Lily exclaimed melodramatically, and Petunia, who was calmly eating breakfast at the table, rolled her eyes.

"Can you drop those classes?" Rose asked, still examining the O.W.L results.

"I failed my Divination O.W.L, and I don't need Astronomy or History to be a Healer. I only have to take the core classes and some electives, if I want." Lily poured herself a glass of orange juice and plopped herself next to Petunia.

Severus handed his parchment to his mother. "I will be dropping History and Astronomy as well," he said. "But I will be keeping Defense as my elective, which makes five classes."

"Defense is required for me," Lily said. "I'm not going to take any electives, I don't think."

Severus frowned. "You're not?"

"I'll be so swamped with five classes and Quidditch that an elective would be rather pointless," Lily pointed out, now going for the sausage plate. "And you'll be swamped with your five classes and Prefect duties, and Quidditch, so it all works out."

"Yes, I suppose it does," Sev said, also seating himself at the table. "Speaking of Quidditch, which positions are open this year?"

"None," Lily said. "Gideon and Fabian are seventh years. Next year, though, we'll have to try out some of the younger students to make sure someone can make captain once we're gone."

"I think Taylor will make captain. She's a ferocious Keeper."

The conversation picked up from there, and Eileen handed Severus back his O.W.L scores before Disapparating to Prince Manor to look up the spell for Lily.

It must have been a hard spell to locate, because Eileen wasn't back until well after dinner. She came in at a quarter to nine, and was greeted by the rest of their strange little family who were all gathered in the living room with steaming mugs of tea, watching a program on BBC One.

"I'm sorry it took so long," Eileen said, hanging up her purse beside the door. "I got distracted several times in the library, and I also needed to check up on how the Elves are doing with the cleaning. If the Lupins or the Tonks families need to use it, it will be ready by next week." Eileen fished a shrunken book from her pocket and enlarged it. She handed it to Lily. "I bookmarked the page with the spell you want," she said. "It's not a terribly difficult spell, especially for someone as smart as you."

Lily eagerly opened the book to the marked page, reading through until she found the spell, and with her nose in the book she went to her room to try it.

It must have worked, because for the rest of the summer, she received no owls from James Potter. She wondered, upon completing the incantation, what the train ride would be like that coming September.

Petunia took her seat at her usual table in the café down the street from the flat. The waitresses knew her and her regular order by now, so it wasn't long before a girl with the name "Christina" on her nametag arrived with a cup of steaming breve mocha. "Will Cordon be by too?" Christina asked kindly, knowing that Petunia and Cordon had made the café their place.

"Yes," Petunia replied with a smile, "he should be here in a few minutes."

"Then I'll start on his drink."

Petunia thanked her and wrapped her hands around the mug, savoring its warmth despite the fact it was summer. She thought about her relationship with Cordon, finding it ironic that after hating Lily's magic for so many years that she'd fallen in love with a wizard. That is what it was, right? Love? Petunia had certainly never felt this way when she was with Vernon. She hadn't ever thought about kissing Vernon or even being alone with him when they'd gone on dates. She'd always insisted on being somewhere public. But with Cordon…she wanted to disappear with him. He'd kissed her on their second date, and she'd kissed him back. For a moment she wondered what her mother would think, but her mother knew that Lily and Severus kissed rather regularly and didn't have a problem with it as long as they didn't get fresh with each other.

The café door swung open and Cordon Diggory came through it with a grin on his face. He kissed Petunia in greeting and sat across from her just as Christina arrived with his usual coffee.

"Thank you," he said to her, and returned his attention to his wonderful, perfect, Muggle girlfriend. "How are you?"

"I think I know where I want to go to Uni."

"It's about time," Cordon said, taking a sip of his drink. "You've been waffling between Oxford and Cambridge for the last five months."

Petunia smiled. "Actually, I decided to study education at the University of Exeter."

"But that's…that's only half an hour away from here. Didn't you want to be closer to London?"

"I did," Petunia agreed, "but I really like Ottery St. Catchpole. If I go to uni in Exeter, I won't have to make such a long slog to come home on breaks, and I do quite like being so near to your family and the Weasleys."

"You're sure?" Cordon asked.

Petunia nodded. "I've already applied, but I was too late to start in September. I'll start in January after you go back for term at Hogwarts."

Cordon looked suitably impressed. "How many years is a teaching degree?"

"Six years, I think," Petunia replied, leaning back in her chair and stretching. "Have you decided what to do when you're done? You picked your—they're called newts, right?"

"N.E.W.T.s, yeah," Cordon said. "I'm not incredibly good in any particular subject; I've sort of got a flat A to E in all my subjects. We got our O.W.L results a week and a half ago—"

"Yes, Lily and Severus showed me theirs," Petunia cut in quickly. "How did you do?"

Cordon took a big gulp of his coffee, seemingly bracing himself for something. "A in Defense, Potions, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic, E in Herbology, Arithmancy, and Charms, and…" he paused, looking at Petunia's face, "an O in Astronomy."

Petunia gave him a big grin. "That's fantastic, Cor!"

"Thank you. I was thinking…with the good grades in Arithmancy and Astronomy, that I could apply magical methods to Muggle cosmological science."

There were several seconds of pure silence following Cordon's statement before Petunia lit up like a Christmas tree. "That has to be the best idea I've ever heard from a wizard."

"Really?" Cordon asked, a bit relieved that his girlfriend hadn't laughed at his ambitions. "You really think so?"

"Of course! As far as Lily and Severus tell me, we Muggles are far ahead of you dark-ages wizards when it comes to science and space. Did you know the Americans landed on the moon seven years ago?"

"You know, I hadn't actually heard about that until last year when Professor Sinistra—the Astronomy professor—mentioned it to the class during our section on the moon in other cultures."

This made Petunia laugh, which pleased Cordon.

If someone had looked into the café, they would have seen two teenagers sitting comfortably across from each other, both nursing steaming mugs of coffee, without a care in the world.

The new booklists came ten days before the start of term. Lily's letter came with a note confirming her continuing captaincy of the Gryffindor House Quidditch Team, and Severus's came with a new Prefect pin that had a '6' on it instead of a '5' to designate him as a sixth year prefect. The trip to Diagon Alley was a lot more fun than previous years, as Petunia, Cordon, and Amos all accompanied them. With an entourage of five children the two mothers had their hands full.

The next day, August 22nd, two weeks before the next Weasley was due, Molly's water broke. Arthur sent the news with his silvery weasel Patronus, and luckily it was in the morning before Eileen had to be at the shop, so she Apparated Lily, Severus, and Petunia over to the Burrow, and left the three teens to watch over Bill and Charlie as Arthur ushered his wife out the door to Disapparate to St. Mungo's. It was a different atmosphere than the year before, when Charlie had been born, with Petunia there.

Lily took over feeding Charlie his breakfast, and Petunia took Bill to the bathroom to clean up the mess he'd made with the oatmeal. Severus busied himself at the kettle, making tea. Lily and Petunia both privately thought that the other was incredibly good with children, and won't she make a lovely mother someday? Bill and Charlie happily played together on the living room floor with Lily and Petunia, and occasionally Severus, who took it upon himself to pick up around the lopsided house to make sure it was ready for Arthur and Molly to return with their newborn.

It must have been an easy delivery, because Arthur Apparated back barely three hours later, bursting into the house and exclaiming, "It's a boy!"

Lily and Petunia immediately squealed their congratulations, scooping up Bill and Charlie from the floor to go greet the Weasley patriarch.

Severus grasped Arthur's hand in a celebratory handshake. "What's his name?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"We've named him Percy Ignatius," Arthur said with a huge smile on his face. He looked positively radiant. "He and Molly will be released from St. Mungo's in a few hours, I just wanted to come share the news!"

"Oh, that's wonderful, Mr. Weasley!" Petunia gushed, hugging Bill to her chest. Bill flailed momentarily, and Petunia transferred the eldest Weasley child to his father's arms. Charlie, who was just over a year old, clung to Lily while his father held Bill.

"Thank you, Petunia," Arthur said, dropping a kiss on his son's head. "I need to get back to the hospital now." He handed Bill back to Petunia, murmuring, "Be good, my sweet child." He briefly took Charlie from Lily and did the same, before handing his son back to the younger Evans and Disapparating back to St. Mungo's.

"What a whirlwind," Petunia said, a little breathless.

"It's good practice, isn't it? Being around magical children before you do your teaching degree," Lily said, cuddling Charlie.

"Yes," Petunia replied. Bill started flailing again so she placed back on the floor, where he promptly summoned a set of wooden blocks to play with. Petunia stared, still amazed whenever the Weasley children demonstrated accidental magic. "It's good there's a secondary school here in Ottery—I can do my A Levels here instead of going to a boarding school in a larger city. I told Cordon about my plans to attend Exeter in the spring," she said offhand.

"We're all quite proud of you, you know," Lily told her sister as she secured Charlie in his high chair to start feeding him lunch. "I think there are very few primary schools for magical children, and practically none that are run by Muggles. You're a trailblazer."

Petunia's cheeks reddened at the praise, and Severus smirked.

At Platform 9 ¾, Severus and Lily found the rest of their friends, and claimed a compartment at the middle of the train. Severus almost timed how long it took James Potter to intrude, but it didn't take long. The train had barely pulled out of the station when the compartment door slid back to reveal the uninvited.

Lily briefly glanced at him and then turned to face Severus, who immediately slid an arm around her shoulder and ducked in for a kiss. Frank stood up from his seat and forced the compartment door shut after purposefully treading on Potter's shoes, and all of this took less than five seconds—he never got the chance to say anything, and after the door snicked shut Jackie cast Colloportus on it so he wouldn't be able to try again.

When they pulled into Hogsmeade seven hours later they were all hungry and excited to begin their sixth year (fifth for poor Regulus). As the carriages rolled up the path to the castle, James Potter wasn't on anyone's mind.

A/N 2: Professor Pink is my belated tribute to Danny Pink from Doctor Who series 8.