A/N: Aaand welcome back! I'm just going to let you all get straight into the story. Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

All Lily knew when she woke was that her leg was glowing a bright fluorescent green. The light filled the whole of her fourposter. She had kicked her covers onto the floor in her sleep, so all of her leg was exposed, nothing stopping it from illuminating her surroundings.

'Shit…' she muttered, staring at her leg. It took her a moment to even register that it was throbbing. 'Jesus Christ! Fuck!'

She slid out of bed and staggered into the bathroom, falling onto the floor as her leg seized up completely. With a great effort she pulled the door shut behind her. It wouldn't do for her to wake up everyone else in her dormitory. Unsure of what else to do, Lily rearranged herself so that she lay on her back and stared upwards.

The candles that usually lit up the bathroom were, of course, unlit at this hour but it wasn't as if she needed them. Her leg acted as a wonderful torch, even if its light was a very eerie colour and her leg ached horribly.

'Jesus Christ…' she repeated, watching the illuminated ceiling, hoping it might provide her with some inspiration.

Hot tears appeared in her eyes. This would make the second time within twenty-four hours that it had caused her pain. She was supposed to be better and yet here she was, lying on the bathroom floor, deprived of sleep, taking deep breaths in the vain hope it might help with the pain. What had she done wrong? Exon, St Mungo's resident curse expert, had cured her. He had! So why was her leg glowing like an alien creation?

'Is a decent night's sleep too much to ask?' she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. But, if she was honest to herself, sleep wasn't a particularly welcoming prospect either. Greyback was waiting for her should she close her eyes for too long. He always knew how to sneak into her dreams.

Her leg throbbed harder and she rolled onto her side, curling into a ball, praying this would end.

…

At breakfast, Lily took refuge behind a copy of the Daily Prophet. Having had barely any sleep and her leg aching for much of the night, she was not in the best of moods. She was worried. All around her were people basking in the joy of Valentine's day; everyone except Marlene, who was stirring her porridge with a grave expression. Since Marlene was meeting her biological father for the first time, Lily thought her own woes did not compare and thus said nothing about the night's events.

'Happy Valentine's Day!' James sang into her ear and she jumped, hastily smiling at him.

'Happy Valentine's Day to you too.' she replied, shaking her head at his beaming face. 'I see you're enjoying yourself.'

'Of course I am, Evans! I've had five cards already – I'm here for my sixth.' He winked and she laughed.

'You want one from me?' she asked, raising her eyebrows when he nodded, grinning. 'Sorry, but I don't actually know how to write.'

'What?' James pretended to look crestfallen. 'So – so no card for me?' Lily shook her head. 'Evans, you're a cruel woman.'

'Me? Cruel? Never.' Lily laughed. 'And all this when I don't see anything for me either. Where's my card?'

'Nothing for you?' James scoffed and, flourishing his wand, conjured a rather wilted bouquet of flowers. Lily grinned at the sight of them. 'Maybe I should stick to Transfiguration…'

'They're lovely.' she said as he made to transfigure them. 'Well, I suppose I'd better give something to you, in the spirit of Valentine's Day.'

Lily considered him. Then, smirking, she leaned forwards and pecked him lightly on the cheek before pulling away. Much to her amusement, a very notable blush made its way onto his face, though she was likely in a similar state. Hastily, she returned her attention to the Daily Prophet and started reading a headline on the second page.

Fleamont Potter to Retire From Head Auror Post

James was staring at her, his blush slowly subsiding.

'You're dad's Head of the Auror Office?' Lily asked conversationally, taking in the headline. She was regretting her actions already; what had been intended to be funny had left her very embarrassed. James' gaze wasn't helping the matter. In her endeavour to hide her embarrassment, she thought it better to act as if her kissing his cheek hadn't happened. 'I didn't know that. That's impressive.'

'Er – yeah…' James replied absently, still watching her. 'Has been for twenty years.'

'Wow…' Lily breathed, not reading the article any further and putting down the newspaper. Marlene reached out from her other side and took it. 'So it's really an end of an era. Well, I suppose he'll enjoy the relaxation after a life of chasing bad wizards.'

'I wish.' James scoffed, returning to normal. 'He does a lot of stuff for Dumbledore. I reckon he'll use his retirement as an excuse to do more.'

'What kind of stuff?' Lily shifted in her seat, watching him intently.

'No idea.' James scrunched up his nose and began what Lily assumed was supposed to be an impression of his mother. 'It's 'not fit for the ears of an underage wizards,' apparently.'

'Was that supposed to be your mum?'

'Yes.'

'She does not sound like that!'

'Oh, yeah?' James smirked. 'And how would you know what my mum sounds like? Been meeting up with her in secret have you?'

'I know because no one in the world sounds like that.' she improvised, laughing to sound convincing. 'That sounded like someone squashing a pig.'

'You're a tough crowd, Evans.' James told her, nudging her. 'There's just no pleasing you.'

'I take offence by that. I liked those wilted flowers, didn't I?'

'Yes, but that's because you're strange.'

'And you call me rude.' she accused, elbowing him slightly.

James laughed and she grinned. They returned to their breakfast and ate in a comfortable silence until Sirius bounded out of his seat a little along the table, dragging Remus and Peter with him, declaring it was time to leave for Hogsmeade. He offered his hand to Marlene, who accepted it, her face blank. Lily instinctively glanced at Remus, who was looking at his feet.

'Come on, Mrs Evans.'

…

When they entered the Entrance Hall a few minutes later, they found it empty, save for three people; Dorcas, Mary and Ollie Harris. The sound of their raised voices brought an involuntary groan from Lily's lips. Cautiously, the group approached the arguers.

'Now listen here Meadowes –'

'No, you listen to me, Harris.' Dorcas snarled at Ollie. 'You wanna go on a date with that bitch? Fine, b–'

'Oh, shut up, Dorcas!'

'You shut your face MacDonald, or I'll fucking shut it for you!' Dorcas glowered at the pair of them. 'You should know she's a Death Eater, Harris. She's a fucking Death Eater!'

'Dorcas –'

'No, MacDonald! He's got a fucking right to know if gonna date a Death Eater!'

Ollie had gone a sickly green colour and had stepped a little away from Mary, who's eyes were starting to water. It was then that James, a very baffled James, stepped in.

'Can I just ask, what in the name of Merlin is going on?' he said, staring at Dorcas as though she had gone mad.

'Oh, fuck off, Potter!'

'Don't talk to him like that!' Lily snapped, moving to stand beside James. 'He hasn't done anything!'

'Well, he needs to mind his own business!' Dorcas retorted, rounding on her. 'Y'know, I don't get you, Lily. I thought you'd learned from Snivellus but you're still hanging around scum. She's a Death Eater, Lily! How could you be so fucking stupid!'

'Oy!' James stepped in front of Lily, growling at Dorcas. 'Don't call her stupid!'

'What else am I s'posed to call her? She's a Muggle-born who thinks a Death Eater wants to be her friend.'

'I'M NOT A DEATH EATER!' Mary screamed suddenly and grabbed Ollie's arm. 'Come on, Ollie. Let's go…'

She pulled him away with her and they disappeared into to courtyard outside. Lily watched her go and then turned back to Dorcas.

'Why did you have to say that to her today of all days?' she asked tiredly, gently moving James to the side. 'And in front of everyone! This is between the two of you not the whole school.'

Dorcas scoffed, opening her mouth to reply.

'We're going into Hogsmeade now.' Lily informed her, linking arms with James, getting ready to lead him away. 'Join us when you're ready to see reason Dorcas.'

The rest of the group followed her wordlessly, all of them speechless. Once she was calmed down, Lily knew Dorcas would come and find them; Emmeline and Hestia had detention, so it was only a matter of time before she got bored of wandering around in the castle by herself shouting abuse at suits of armour.

Filch was waiting for them in the courtyard, his Secrecy Sensor at the ready. He scanned each of them in turn, choosing to be a little more violent with his jabs when the Marauders took their turn at being searched. They all passed assessment, however, and soon were on their way down the lane towards the village. No one spoke for a moment. No one until Sirius decided to break the ice.

'So MacDonald's a Death Eater,' he said conversationally to the group at large, a wolfish laugh leaving him. 'I've always had my suspicions. Maybe it's the blonde hair. You can't trust blondes.'

'Looks like we'd better watch out for Pete next.' James joked, ruffling Peter's hair. The boy rolled his eyes.

'Cheers, James.' he said. 'I'm glad we're such good friends.'

'That's right, Pete.' James grinned. 'Friendship's all about trust.'

'Such a wise statement.' Remus said, smirking. 'Where did you learn that?'

'You saying I can't be wise by myself?'

'Of course I am.'

Lily laughed, patting James' cheek condescendingly so that he pretended to pout. Unhooking her arm from his, she made her way over towards Remus.

'Sorry, Mrs Evans. I'm swapping you for wiser company.'

'Mrs Evans?' Sirius said blankly from beside Marlene. Then an evil grin made its way onto his face. 'Did she just call you Mrs Evans?'

Peter snorted.

'Hey – hey, Mrs Evans –'

'Pads, say that again and I'll kill you.' James warned, pulling out his wand. The effect was slightly ruined by his scarlet cheeks.

'Why? Is it Evans' special nickname for you?' Sirius teased and James narrowed his eyes. 'Is that why, Mrs –'

'PADFOOT!' James pounced on him and the two boys engaged in a mock wrestle of sorts, much to the amusement of everyone else.

'Marlie,' Sirius wheezed as James got him in a headlock. 'You'll call me Mr McKinnon, won't you?'

His question was met with the slightest shake of the head from Marlene. Apart from that, she might never even have heard his question for all the reaction she gave. Remus reacted, however. He let out a rather sharp scoff, distracting Lily from James and Sirius' antics.

'Remus?' Lily murmured tentatively, guiding him a little from the rest of the group, who had come to a standstill to watch the wrestle. 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong.' he replied tersely. Lily blinked at his tone.

'Remus, you can tell me.' she said softly, smiling kindly at him. He shook his head.

'I can't. Not here anyway.'

Lily frowned, confused. Remus glanced over his shoulder and then shook his head again. Her brow creased further, seeing nothing but the others still laughing at James and Sirius wrestling when she followed his gaze.

'Remus…'

'I'll tell you later.' he muttered, turning his head away to stare up ahead. 'It can wait, don't worry.'

Lily bit her lip, but nodded, and soon the whole group was on the move again.

…

They spent an enjoyable morning wandering about the shops, laughing at the Marauders bickering and their farfetched stories. Lily was buoyed by the fact that Marlene was laughing and smiling; she had been quite nervous at breakfast after all. Meeting one's biological father for the first time was no laughing matter and when it was someone a smug as Roland, well…

'It's nearly time.' Lily murmured quietly to Marlene as the group trooped out of Honeyduke's, all heavily laden with confectionary. 'It's just gone twelve.'

Marlene's lips became a thin line and she jerked her head into a nod.

'We'd better go then.' Raising her voice to a more audible level, Lily turned to the others and said, 'Marlie and I are abandoning you for lunch. We'll come find you again later.'

'You're leaving?' Sirius asked, wiping a non-existent tear from his eye.

'We'll be back.' she assured him, rolling her eyes before waving and ushering Marlene away.

The two girls entered The Three Broomsticks, glancing about for any sign of Roland. It occurred to Lily, that she had no idea what he looked like, so her searching was fruitless. She supposed Marlene knew and thus decided to wait for her friend to find him. Her own eyes turned towards the bar while she waited, spotting Rosemerta handing a pint of what looked like Oak Matured mead to a man drumming his fingers on the counter. It wasn't until the man glimpsed over his shoulder at the door that her eyes widened comically.

If Marlene had been a man in his late fifties, she would have looked exactly like him. Roland McKinnon looked exactly like his daughter, almost to the minute detail. His daughter in question froze at the sight of him.

Roland, noticing Marlene, thanked Rosemerta for his pint and crossed the pub, his eyes never leaving his daughter's face.

Professor Slughorn had once commented on how similar Marlene was to her biological father some time during their third year; he had said they spoke in the same manner and since they were close to identical it was, to him, quite an eerie spectacle to behold. Lily supposed she would soon be able to verify his observation.

'Hello, Marlene.'

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