Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
I made Tonks one year younger than canon.
Lily's radicalization
It was another morning at St. Mungo's hospital. In one of the rooms a witch with the name of Lily Jasmine Evans Potter, was waking up from a weeklong coma.
"Where am I?" Lily mumbled, looking disoriented struggling to get out of her bed.
A nearby healer heard the ruckus Lily was causing and decided to check her.
"Mrs. Potter, you are finally awake. Please don't move, you need rest."
"Where am I? What happened?" then a realization hit Lily "Where is James? Where is Harry?"
The healer in a more solemn tone asked "What is the last thing you remember?"
Lily tried to remember "It was Halloween night, I was in my son's nursery. Then I heard the door to my house blown up" then the memories of the night hit Lily and she burst in tears "NO, James is dead! Harry too."
"Sorry for your husband, Mrs. Potter. In other news your son is still alive, he is in another room where outsiders can't get him. Everyone wants to see the boy-who-lived"
Lily's eyebrows furrowed in confusion "What is this boy-who-lived thing you are talking about?"
The healer facepalmed "I didn't remember that you were a week in coma" Ignoring Lily's shocked face, the healer gave Lily some copies of the Daily prophet from the last week.
Lily took the newspapers and started reading them. She felt a slight relief in her body when she found out that Voldemort's body was destroyed. She remembered the plan she had with James, this means that he could complete the protection ritual before dying; this is why Voldemort just shoved her aside and didn't kill her, and why Voldemort's killing curse didn't kill Harry. She frowned when she saw that Sirius was arrested, he wasn't the secret keeper. She is going to talk to Dumbledore to clarify this and free Sirius. She then set the newspapers aside and asked the healer "What happened to me? I remember being hit by the rubble but nothing else."
"You had a broken arm and a concussion. Your coma was because of magical exhaustion, I don't know what caused it. Probably was because your magic was protecting your unborn baby"
"Unborn baby?"
"You are seven weeks pregnant. How didn't you suspect this?"
"I was irregular for most of the war, it was stressful"
"Now you should take care of yourself, you-know-who was destroyed. Do you want to see your son?"
"Yes please"
Lily was discharged from St. Mungo's two days after she woke up. She was now in Hogwarts to meet with the headmaster to talk about Sirius' situation. She entered the Headmaster's office, exchanged greetings, and took a seat.
"Lily, my Girl. What brings you here?" asked Dumbledore.
"I want to talk about Sirius Black"
"It's a shame he was a traitor, but don't worry you and Harry will be safe from him"
"That's the thing, he isn't a traitor. We decided to change secret keepers at the last minute because Sirius was too obvious, Peter was the real secret keeper. We didn't tell anyone else because we thought Remus was the spy."
"He still killed those muggles"
"You don't know, the story on the news had many holes. I'm surprised those didn't appear on his trial"
"He didn't have a trial. We decided that because of the evidence we had and his family history. He didn't deserve a trial; it was a clear-cut case"
Lily started to turn red in anger "Are you telling me he didn't get a trial because of his family, a family that disowned him. Even in the case he was guilty, a trial would allow you to collect valuable information. It's like you don't want to find the truth and just find people to blame…"
Just as Lily was beginning her rant, Severus Snape entered the office.
"Snape. What are you doing here?" asked Lily coldly. "Headmaster, what is this death eater doing here?"
"Lily, Severus turned spy at the end of the war. Now he is also a professor here" answered Dumbledore.
Lily looked at Snape and saw the guilt in Snape's face, then she perceived that his guilt was only external. "You are hiding something. Something tells me that you were an indirect cause of James' death. I know you are obsessed with me. I can see you thinking that with James out of the map, I would run straight to your arms."
Snape's expression didn't change.
"Severus heard a part of a prophecy that said that someone born at the end of July would have the power to defeat Voldemort. He told Voldemort the prophecy. This prophecy is the reason I sent you into hiding." explained Dumbledore. "Then he turned spy when he realized he was going after your family and that would mean your death."
So, he is an obsessive creep and caused my Husband's death. Thought Lily. Her anger intensified with the implications Snape being free had. Dumbledore believed Sev instantly but didn't give the benefit of the doubt to Sirius.
Dumbledore calmly said "Don't get angry, it is always difficult to accept a close friend betrayed you." Then he paused a little and continued "After the Halloween events, your son became famous and will be a target. I recommend raising him isolated from the wizarding world. I was going to send him to your sister, before Hagrid realized you were still alive."
Lily exploded "I decide how I raise my son. And my sister? She hates magic and rejected every attempt I made to reconnect with her after we became estranged." Then she stormed off the office and headed to her house
Lily didn't have too many hopes with the letter she sent to Bartemius Crouch asking about Sirius Black's case. She expected that she would be dismissed. What she didn't expect, is the amount of vitriol she would receive in Barty's response. In short terms he asked if she was imperiused and that the wizengamot won't believe the word of a muggleborn even if she was one of the supposed victims, and then he implied she was a dark witch trying to free her dark lord.
After reading the letter from Crouch, she decided to visit one of the few persons that believed her, Andromeda Tonks. She took Harry, walked into the fireplace, grabbed floo powder, tossed it to the fireplace, shouted "Tonks residence" and disappeared into the green flames.
At Tonks residence a seven year old girl noticed Lily and Harry appear in the fireplace and run up to her and hugged her. "Aunt Lily!" she smiled.
"Hi Nymphy. Is your mother here?"
Nymphy ran to another room and came back with a brown haired woman with aristocratic facial features that was dressed in a casual muggle outfit. "Lily! take a seat. I see from your face that you saw the last issue of the daily prophet." said the woman.
"No, I didn't see it. Andi, I came here because of this letter I received from the head of the DMLE" replied Lily.
Andromeda took the letter and read it; a frown started forming on her face as she kept reading. When she finished, she was cold in anger. "The hypocrisy" she grunted. "Lily, look at this" she handed the newspaper to Lily.
Lily scanned it and growled "Hypocrisy indeed. He decides that your cousin doesn't deserve a trial because of evidence, but then your sister that was caught red-handed committing a crime and was infamous for being in you-know-who's inner circle received a trial. "
"This circus makes me want to burn the ministry with fiendfyre, it would be a good use to the education my dear family gave me."
"This month has been horrible. I'm starting to get disillusioned with the wizarding world. "
"Welcome to my world. I started to get disillusioned when I was disowned for marrying Ted and then he had difficulties finding a job in the wizarding world for being muggleborn. You know that he had to get a muggle education a become a muggle lawyer." Andi empathized.
"Then there is all that boy-who-lived business. When I left St. Mungo's I was hounded by people trying to see my son. Then there are the columns questioning my abilities of raising him properly, saying that a mudblood isn't an adequate person to raise the boy-who-lived. By the time Harry enters Hogwarts, no one will have a healthy perception of him." Lily ranted.
"Lily, you are always welcome here. You should ask Ted about the muggleborn support network, I know you didn't join it because you were entangled with James and the order of the phoenix." Andi assured Lily.
"Thank you Andi." Said Lily, with tears on her eyes.
The following months were somewhat monotonous to Lily. She spent the time studying for her potions mastery, she was doing the theory studies because of her pregnancy. She didn't leave the Deer's retreat, the Potter family home, that much; because she was hounded by people every time she went to another place in magical Britain. The only visitors she had were the Tonkses and professor Slughorn.
27th of June of 1982 came by and Lily at St. Mungo's gave birth to her daughter Zinnia Lily Potter, Ted and Andi Tonks were her godparents.
By the end of 1982, Lily could complete her practical part of her potions mastery and took the exam at the ministry. She was now a certified potioneer. Her life looked like it would become better. But it didn't.
She tried to get a job with the contacts she made through the slug club, but most of them didn't want to work with a muggleborn witch. She tried to get a job in the ministry, but she was passed over for less qualified candidates that were from more prestigious families. Having been married to a Potter didn't matter, she was a mudblood.
Lily finally broke down in her disappointment from the wizarding world, it was February 1983 and was sitting at her desk reflecting in what happened during the last year. The red haired witch was too mesmerized by the magic during her school years, then she was too focused in the war, after the events of Halloween 1981 she saw the real wizarding Britain. Most of her 'friends' deserted her, including Remus Lupin. Did you-know-who really lose the war? Most of the death eaters got away with the imperius defense, muggleborn wizards don't have good work prospects, the blood purity ideology was still widespread aside from a few families.
The muggleborn witch took three pieces of parchment, in the first one she wrote:
Disappointments I had with the wizarding world:
The justice system works on the whims of the DMLE, the minister and the Wizengamot. My husband's best friend was imprisoned without a trial, meanwhile infamous death eaters still got a trial and some of them got away with their crimes.
Aside from lower positions in some apothecaries, no one wants to hire me. Even considering my skills.
My son's fame has been a curse, I have been scrutinized every time I go out.
In the second one she wrote:
People that have wronged me:
Severus Snape: He called a mudblood after I tried to defend him from the marauders. He liked me as a love interest, but I wasn't interested; instead of accepting it and moving on, he became obsessed with me. He sent you-know-who to kill my family so he could have me for himself.
Albus Dumbledore: Didn't believe me when I brought out the Sirius case, then he tried to tell me how I to raise my son. I suspect he is the reason my son has the cursed nickname of the "boy-who-lived", because he is one of the few people that could have known that my son reflected a killing curse in the hours after you-know-who's attack. He also instantly believed Snape, when he didn't give Sirius the benefit of the doubt.
Bartemius Crouch: All the mishandling he did with Sirius Black. I savour his fall from grace after his son's death.
Remus Lupin: Abandoned me after James' death. Didn't listen to me about Sirius. He is now sulking somewhere. Now I understand why Sirius believed he was the traitor. I think he can be an ally if Sirius is freed, but will not be a close friend.
Peter Pettigrew: TRAITOR, I need to find him to free Sirius.
Lily stopped writing rested on the back of her chair. I need to start a revolution, but for that I need allies. She adjusted herself in her chair, took her quill and wrote:
Allies and friends:
Edward and Andromeda Tonks
After a while she couldn't think of more allies, she appreciated Slughorn, but she knew he wasn't a person that would fight a revolution. She decided to write a letter to Ted asking for an invitation to the muggleborn support network.
Two days after she wrote the letter to Ted, the muggleborn support network sent their response.
Dear Lily,
Of course, you can join our group. We were expecting you since the war ended. We can meet at the Tonks residence tomorrow at five to discuss your 'revolution'. We are all people that are disillusioned with wizarding Britain. We have some ideas and we can use your support.
Erika Tyndall
President of the muggleborn support network.
Lily stepped out of the floo with Harry and Zinnia in tow, Harry went to play with Nymphadora, meanwhile some members of the muggleborn support network started to come in and sit in the dining table. Then a punk looking woman approached Lily and shook her hand "Hello, you must be Lily Potter. I'm Erika Tyndall, president of the muggleborn support network, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, too" smiled Lily.
Everyone took their seats and Erika presided "Everyone here, present yourselves. I'm Erika Tyndall and the president of this group."
A dark haired young man stood up and presented himself "I'm Russel Falconer, vice president of this group and a veterinarian"
A middle aged blond man was the next in presenting himself " I'm Simon Shelby, treasurer of the muggleborn support network and the leader of project Tynby Vale."
A thirty year old woman was the last of the unknown people "I'm Carrie Mortimer, secretary of the network, magical herbologist and muggle botanist"
Ted presented himself "Everyone knows me here I'm Edward Tonks, muggle lawyer"
Finally Lily stood up and presented herself "I'm Lily Potter, certified potioneer"
Erika jumped in excitement "A certified potioneer! We can start phase two of project Tynby Vale"
A confused Lily asked "What's that?"
Erika explained "We muggleborn witches and wizards are always treated as second class citizens, never having the possibility of owning businesses, then the last war forced many of us to flee the country. Even many of the 'muggle defenders' see us as lesser. We decided to create a separate magical community and start to starve the bigots, because even if they don't want to admit it, they need us."
Simon continued "The first phase of project Tynby Vale was to get some lands to build our community, we got an abandoned industrial district and started to terraform it back to nature, at its center the village of Tynby Vale is going to be built. It's going to be hidden from the muggles by the flora."
Lily asked "What is my role on this?"
Carrie answered "You are going to be the potions teacher for our new school and do some research. You'll also train some apprentices to run the apothecary."
"Are you going to start a new school? I like this project, but I won't be able to send Harry and Zinnia there because the rest of Britain will cause a ruckus if they don't go to Hogwarts." said a worried Lily
Erika assured "We understand that, the Potters are an old family. Ted's daughter will also go to Hogwarts because she is a descendant from an old family, even if her mother was disowned. But that part will be probably solved if we solve the Sirius situation, however we don't know how to tackle that. Harry, Zinnia and Nymphadora will have a mission of recruiting the muggleborns and the 'blood traitors' to our community and will be our eyes at Hogwarts. But those are long term plans, our mission now is to found the village"
Lily stood determined "I'm in. I put into disposition of the network a property of the Potter estate as headquarters. I also offer some money for the cause."
Lily felt better, this is going to be a slow process of educating and recruiting. However, the red haired witch will find it a worthy cause to take revenge against a society that has a backwards justice system and a disdain to their newest members.