A/N: AUUUUUUGH!!!!! Bleurgh! Aack! Yeesh! I'm SO SORRY! But that is not going to do anything now, is it? Augh...well, anyway, woo-hoo I updated! (FINALLY!) I know, I know, it's been five months, and I'm REALLY sorry, and I know everyone's given up on this story already and blah de blah de blah, but I promised this would be the next story I updated, so here I am, updating it, and bwahahaha, here you have a chapter!
But I must apologize in advance for this chapter because it's not very long, and umm...nothing really happens. Sort of. Well, something does, but...oh, never mind. Lots of moping on Lily's part; you'll have to excuse that. I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to put in!
Anyway, the chapter title sucks, so if you have a better idea PLEASE let me know. Thank-you's are at the bottom.
Chapter Seven
Howlers, Birthdays, and Potions
"What day is it?" Hermione asked the next morning in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry, who had spent all of last night with his parents and gotten absolutely no sleep, looked up at her from his chair with half-closed eyes and a half-open mouth and grunted. Ron laughed, Hermione gave him a look, Lavender looked up from braiding Parvati's hair and rolled her eyes, and Neville got out a little date-book.
Neville was halfway there when Hermione rolled her eyes and snatched it away. "Never mind, I remember!"
Harry muttered something rather incomprehensible, and Ron translated for him.
"Hermione, he says he loves you, and would you please give him chocolate bunny slippers, and-hey!"
Harry found his strength and kicked Ron in the shins.
"What, exactly, are chocolate bunny slippers?" Parvati asked, one eyebrow raised.
"I dunno, but they sure do sound tasty," Ron replied, rubbing his stomach. "When are we going to go down to breakfast anyway? I'm starving!"
"Fine, no one cares that it's my birthday, I'll just leave then!" Hermione said, rather huffily, and stalked through the portrait hole.
Lavender and Parvati followed her at once, but Harry, Ron, and Neville stared at each other for a moment, and then Neville said:
"This doesn't mean we have to go buy her a present, does it?"
* * *
"My poor little cauldrons!" Lily sniffed, scrubbing religiously at the inside of her favorite with magical mess remover.
"Are you going to be at that all day?" James asked, coming to the door.
"Yes! They're my babies, and Melody ruined them!" she replied, cradling the cauldron in her arms. She then set it down and turned to smile at her husband.
Her smile quickly faded, however, when she saw what he was wearing.
"James, not again," she said softly, looking broken.
"It's my job, Lily! What would you have me do?"
"Stay for a while! Be with Harry. Be with me. Or go home and be with Melody. Just...anything, to get you away from it for a while."
"You talk about it like I have an addiction, Lily," he said, walking over to her. "I'm just trying to protect people."
"What about you? What about protecting you, James? If-"
"Lily, we've had this conversation a hundred times! When is it going to be settled?"
"When I can keep my eye on you twenty-four hours a day. When you quit. When Voldemort dies, take your pick, James, but it's not going to be any time soon, unless I stop loving you."
"Don't say that," James said, pulling her to him. "I couldn't handle that."
"Don't worry. I don't think it's even possible," she said, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Good," James wrapped his arms around her as tightly as possible.
"Don't go," Lily pleaded again. "Please."
"I can't be selfish, Lil, I..."
"Yes you can," Lily said, grabbing the sleeves of his cloak and holding them tightly in her fists. "You've been working almost nonstop for eleven years, James...You've earned the right to be a little selfish."
"Lily, how can you say that when you know what we're fighting for? This is your job, too, and-"
"I've managed to do it without getting myself almost blown up a dozen times."
"We've put a lot of Death Eaters into Azkaban, Lily. It is working."
"Yes, but we've put almost as many of our own into St. Mungo's as well. We almost lost the Longbottoms ten years ago! How many more will it take, James? How many before they get to-" she choked on the word she had been about to say, which was 'you', and James pulled back to look at her.
"Lily, look at me," he said, his eyes fierce and bright. Lily looked at him, her own eyes wet and scared.
"There are too many people out there to fight for. We've been over this a thousand, thousand times, and I need you to be brave. Every time you ask me to stay it gets harder to remember why I go out and risk losing you.
"But they need us, Lily. They need you here to help protect the castle and me out there to help protect everyone else. We can't stop now!"
Lily closed her eyes and looked like she was making a very difficult decision. "Go," she said softly. "Just go."
"I'll be back for Christmas."
"You bloody well better be," Lily said, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder again.
Then, just like that, he was gone. He stepped out of the embrace and left the room swiftly, making Lily feel very cold and alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Her robes smelled like James, and she brought a piece of fabric to her nose until his smell, too, was gone, and all traces of James had disappeared from the room.
Three months was too, too long, Lily thought sadly, and returned to her cauldron cleaning, with somewhat less vigor than before.
* * *
"Poo! I don't want to go home!" Melody Potter declared, plopping down on the bed she would have slept on last night, had her parents not kept her up.
"Like you have a choice?" Alex Cauldwell reminded her, his eyes half-closed, looking dead from lack of sleep.
Melody sighed. "I know, but still...don't you think we could have stayed a little longer?"
"You're just mad because you got your suitcase all packed for nothing."
Melody stuck her tongue out at him. He was right, of course, but did that matter to her? Of course not!
Just then Sirius Black bounced (yes, bounced) into the room. Melody blinked and, once again, wondered why, exactly, he was in charge of them.
"Today is the day our first birthday-present arrives!" He said, sounding very much like a little boy.
"Really?" Melody gasped, her eyes widening in excitement. "Ooh, can we go see?"
"Well..." Sirius began.
"Oh, please, Sirius? Please?" Melody begged, jumping up and down.
"We can spy from outside the Great Hall."
"Yessss!" Melody said, and ran out of the room, followed closely by Sirius and Alex.
* * *
When the mail came that morning, Hermione was pleased to receive several gifts from her parents by owl, but her face fell when a red envelope fell at her place.
"Oh no," she murmured, recognizing the letter as a Howler.
Her friends were all looking at the Howler, as well.
"Who would send someone a Howler on their birthday?" Parvati demanded, banging the tabletop. "That is really rude!"
"Well, cover your ears!" Hermione said, as the Howler started steaming. She opened it quickly and covered her own ears, cringing.
And the Great Hall was filled with:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HERMIONE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! FROM SIRIUS, MELODY AND ALEX!"
"Harry, I'm sorry, but your godfather cannot sing," Hermione said, shaking her head. They all broke into giggles, and Hermione looked much happier.
Of course, it did get rather annoying how everyone kept wishing her a happy birthday all day long, but oh well to that!
* * *
When Lily found out that it was Hermione's birthday, she began a Potions Class tradition. The only person who protested was Pansy Parkinson, who whined that her birthday had been completely ignored, but Lily told her there was always next year. At any rate, Hermione left Potions class with a beautiful new silver locket hanging around her neck. It was charmed with something special, but the professor had refused to tell her what.
"What if it's a boys' birthday?" Dean Thomas had demanded. "I don't want some stupid old locket hanging around my neck!"
"Well, we'll worry about that when we get there!" Lily had said, sitting on top of her desk and shrugging.
"My birthday's tomorrow!" Seamus Finnigan had yelled out, raising his hand rather unnecessarily in the air.
Lily had glared at him. "Well, we'll WORRY about that when we GET there!"
After that, Potions class had passed rather uneventfully, other than that they all had (unfortunately) been assigned a rather large amount of homework.
"This all your fault, Hermione," Ron complained as the left the classroom.
"Why is it my fault?" She demanded.
"It's your birthday!"
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and flounced up the stairway. Parvati gave Ron a very pointed look as she followed her friend, and Ron turned to Harry.
"What'd I do?"
Harry just shrugged.
* * *
"Noooooooooo," Melody whined. "I don't wanna go!"
Lily sighed. "For the last time, Melody, you've stayed here long enough, and---Sirius Padfoot Black!" Sirius, who had been stealing a cookie from Lily's secret stash, looked up and smiled, trying to appear innocent, but the chocolate chips in his teeth gave him away.
"That's not really your middle name, is it?" Alex asked, looking at Sirius as he guiltily replaced Lily's cookie jar.
"Who knows?" Sirius shrugged, and he closed the drawer and magically re-locked it with his wand. He smiled sheepishly again and Lily's withering glare and slinked, dog-like, back over to the fireplace.
Without further arguing, procrastination, or cookie stealing, Lily sent Alex and Melody home by Floo powder, and then looked at Sirius for a moment.
Sirius cocked his head at her. "What?"
"Doesn't school suddenly seem like a long time ago?" She asked.
Sirius nodded, being, for once in his life, actually serious. "A very long time ago," he sighed. "When McGonagall still yelled at us for things like...turning Snape's hair blue, or...turning Mrs. Norris into a porcupine, or..."
"Turning Bertha Jorkins into a donkey?" Lily supplied helpfully.
"There you go!" Sirius said, smiling triumphantly, but his smile quickly faded. "We were friends, weren't we, Lily?" He asked, almost sadly.
"Oh, Sirius!" Lily cried, throwing her arms around him. "Of course we were! Once I got past all the...potatoes, and..."
Sirius smiled and squeezed Lily once before letting her go. "Watch out for James, eh?" He said, pinching her cheek a little for no reason. "He is my best friend and all."
Lily smiled. "And you watch out for Melody-both of them. They are my daughter and best friend and all. And don't forget about Alex either, eh?"
Sirius smiled and kissed the top of her head before leaving.
He was a very affectionate guy, Sirius, once you got to know him, Lily reflected, watching him step fearlessly into the fireplace and disappear.
* * *
Melody Cauldwell was trying, hopelessly, to read her lesson plans for the next few Dueling Club meetings. You'd think she'd have it figured out by now, but no...
She had woken up in the middle of the night about two days ago with a brilliant idea, written it down, and now she had absolutely no idea what the little scribbles on the piece of paper said.
"Bubble wrap...bubble gum...bunny feet...b...oh, I give up!" She exclaimed, throwing the piece of paper down onto her desk. Of course, the piece of paper (being a piece of paper and all) refused to cooperate with her on THAT as well, and decided to lamely drift and float about before falling onto the floor on the opposite side of her desk.
Melody growled at it for a moment before getting out of her chair, stomping around her desk, and rather violently picking it up. She accidentally sent it flying airborne again, but this time snatched it before it had time to even think about touching the ground.
"Having fun?" asked a bemused voice from the doorway, and Melody turned to see Lily standing and looking at her.
"Tons," Melody replied, bringing the paper up to her face again. "Eurgh! I can't READ this stupid thing!" She cried, stomping her foot at it.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Give me that!" she insisted, snatching the paper out of Melody's hands and examining it for a moment. "It says: bone-freezing curse, " she concluded after several moments. "See? Simple as that." She handed the paper back to Melody.
"How do you do that?" Melody asked incredulously, sitting back down at her desk and scribbling it down again, more legibly, onto another piece of paper.
"Hey, I have to grade homework. Some of those kids' writing looks like little squiggly lines."
"Well, that's all cursive is anyway," Melody said, shrugging, and digging through her desk for something. "Lots of little squiggly lines." She pulled out a folder and stuck the note inside of it. "I'll work on this later," she announced.
Lily sighed. "This is so different!" she exclaimed. "So different and so...the same."
Melody looked at her and smiled. "Still reminiscing, huh?"
"Well, I can't help it! It's just...being here, and having all of us together again, and...well, actually, not all of us-too bad Remus couldn't have been here, I mean-" But Lily cut herself off, and then sighed again.
Quite suddenly the bell rang, and Lily jumped, realizing that the lunch break was over and that she had class right now.
"Damn, I'm breaking my own late policy," she said.
Melody shrugged. "Hey, I'm supposed to be filling in at Defense Against the Dark Arts. Do you see me complaining? Noooo."
Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed Melody's arm, yanking her out of the office. "In that case, we have to go."
* * *
Lily was working again. The moon hung low and bright in the night sky, and added an eerie glow to the dungeon, its light filtering in through the dungeon's one window and casting odd shadows onto Lily's bubbling potions.
It was a dangerous business, trying to invent potions, and very boring sometimes, too. The process could become long and tedious, especially when you were dealing with finicky potions. Some took minutes to boil; others, as long as a year. When you were trying to invent one, you had no idea how long the potion would need, and as a result there were many potions that had failed when they could have been successful. Also, certain ingredients liked to explode under unfavorable conditions, which made them dangerous to work with as well.
Some witches and wizards were very good at exacting the time needed for boiling a new potion, but they were very rare, and as a result new potions usually came a long in bursts of two or three or six or twelve at a time, usually from the same researcher, who had figure out exact times for many potions all at once. Lily didn't feel she possessed any particular talent for exacting new potions (but how very wrong she was). However, she had already produced four plant fertilizers, two very strong adhesives, a new fantastic stain-remover, a weak new brand of Tickling Potion, and a mild Insanity Serum.
She tested her potions on spiders and beetles (which she felt were two of the least offensive creatures to test potions on), and, sometimes, when she was in dire need of some form of life to test, plants. (Which was how she had discovered her lovely plant fertilizers, although several more plants had been killed in the process.)
Lily was dying to try a potion with phoenix tears, but it was impossible to find a good supply of them anywhere except in illegal trades, or if you had an actual phoenix as a pet, which was extremely rare. (Dumbledore, of course, had a phoenix, but Lily wasn't about to barge into his office and demand phoenix tears-how extremely rude and offending would THAT seem to the phoenix? [Or, while she was on the subject, the headmaster?])
She had several potions bubbling that would be ready in a few days, a few more that were ready to test, and one that she wasn't quite sure about yet, but she had the feeling she'd mixed it in her sleep, because she couldn't remember what ingredients were in it or how long it needed to boil for.
Lily was profusely tired, and found herself inspecting the circles under her eyes in the reflection in one of her cauldrons. She sighed, and stared at the Mysterious Potion.
"I have a stirrer here," she announced to nobody. "And I wish to poke at it, but I'm not sure what will happen if I do." She cocked her head at the potion and yawned, unsure of how to proceed, but after a moment thought that proceeding might not exactly be the best thing, seeing as how she was ready to fall asleep on the lab table.
So instead of testing her potions and figuring out what was in her Mystery Potion like a good girl, she waved her wand at all of the potions and put them away silently. She wandered upstairs to her bedroom (which, naturally, just couldn't be near her potions dungeon) and collapsed, and her sleep was filled with dreams.
* * *
When Lily woke up the next morning, it was raining. It was also a Saturday. She woke up slowly, and for a while just lay in bed, thinking. She still had memories running around in her head from two nights ago, and for some reason she hadn't been able to get any of them to go away. They were memories of Hogwarts, and of the Marauders, and of Melody and Sirius, and Remus and Mimi, and of falling in love with James...wonderful, beautiful memories that made her cry.
She wished James were here right now, to hold her, and kiss her, and...if she had been at school, she could have gone to see him right then. She could have just rolled out of her bed and waited around the Fat Lady's portrait a while before someone came out and demanded to see James. Or she could have gone to MHQ, or gone to find Melody, or...if it had been Seventh Year, she could have just gone to see him no matter where he was, because she would have had all the passwords.
She had all the passwords now, too, but...there was no James, and somehow that made it all seem worthless. She hated this horrible feeling of longing. It just made her feel like not doing anything. Being without James was like being without air, or water, or food, or...something that was really horrible to be without.
How could she get him to stay? If love wasn't enough, what was?
She sighed and finally got out of bed, her mind scrambled. She looked out of the window at the rain falling from the sky. Drops splattered onto the window as well, in a soothing pattern that cleared Lily's mind a bit.
Remus was coming back today, she remembered. That was good, at least. Every time he left, she felt oddly...guilty. Guilty because she didn't have to suffer, too, and because there wasn't anything more she could do about it than just make him a potion, which didn't ease the pain, or stop anything from happening, but it was the least she could do. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt so guilty about the whole situation; after all, it wasn't her fault, but...for some reason Lily just had the instinct to fix everything; to make everyone feel better. Unfortunately, it didn't always work. She wasn't perfect. She wasn't a deity. She couldn't fix everything.
Things were easier when James was around. He eased her tension, partly because he was home and knowing he was safe took one more worry out of her mind, but also because that was just how she felt around him; calm. God, she missed him!
But she was back to square one again, and no step closer to finding...whatever it was she was looking for. If she had ever been looking for anything in the first place, that is.
"Lovely rain today, wouldn't you say?" came a voice from Lily's doorway.
Normally she would have jumped, but the voice was so familiar, and so calm, and so soothing that all she could do was smile.
"Indeed, Professor," Lily replied, not turning to look at him.
"Come now, Lily, I would think after all these years you'd finally be able to call me Albus," the professor said, and now Lily did turn to look at him, and smiled.
"I guess not."
Dumbledore nodded. "What have you been thinking about? You look troubled, my dear."
Lily's smile fell a little, and she looked back out of the window again. Dumbledore crossed the room and stood next to her. Ever since Lily's father had died, she and Dumbledore had become very close.
"Voldemort," she finally said, very softly.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "He does seem to be on everybody's mind, doesn't he?"
"I'm just worried that we're not doing anything. That we're not making any difference in this stupid war. That James is just wasting all of his time fighting for a lost cause. Please tell me we're not a lost cause."
"The cause can only be lost if people stop believing it, my dear," Dumbledore said kindly, patting her on the shoulder.
Lily nodded, but she did not look as though she felt this were entirely good news. Maybe she had thought that if the cause had been lost, then...well, then she'd be able to see James again. Of course. What else?
"Do you think three months is a long time, Professor?" Lily asked after a moment.
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied. "Especially if we must be separated from the ones we love."
Lily looked down and nodded again.
"You are being very brave, Lily, my dear. I cannot promise that we are near the end, or, indeed, even near the middle, but I know we are moving forward, and you must hold on."
"Thank you," Lily said, looking out of the window again and smiling slightly. Her heart felt a tad bit lighter, but it still wasn't enough to last her three months.
* * *
James was back in Auror camp. He had been moved from Camp A to Camp C, in the hopes that he would be more protected from a direct attack by Voldemort.
At the moment, Auror Camp C was stationed in Siberia, which James had ranked decidedly on the bottom of his "Vacation Destinations" list. It was, to put it mildly, cold. Cold. No, no-not cold; that just seemed much too nice. More like...nighttime on Pluto. All day long.
His clothes for sleeping and daytime were virtually the same, and they weren't allowed to use magic in their tents to make them warmer, because that would be much too easy for Death Eaters to track. Camping like a Muggle in sub-zero weather was less than fun. What in the world were Death Eaters doing in Siberia anyway? That was what James wanted to know.
He wished desperately that he could write a letter to Lily, but that was absolutely out of the question. If there was one good thing about Siberia and its ridiculously freezing nights, it was that the Aurora was absolutely beautiful. The first night there he had stared in awe at the brilliant colors flashing across the sky, and nearly gotten his nose frozen off in the process. Too bad he couldn't take a picture; apparently he'd forgotten his camera.
The other Aurors in his new camp were an interesting bunch. Frank Longbottom himself was there, which James was both excited about and grateful for. They still had a lot to catch up on. Also present was the world-famous Alastor Moody. He was getting on in years, and appeared to have more chunks in his face than the last time James had seen him (which wasn't hard to imagine, as it had been nearly twelve years ago), but he was still the same.
Also present was a rather young-looking fellow by the name of Bill Weasley. Why did that name sound so familiar...? James had wondered this over and over since being assigned to the camp, but he couldn't place the name. He had REALLY wanted to owl Lily then, but there was no way it could be done. They weren't allowed to send owls or have pets of any kind at Auror camps, which severely strained relationships sometimes, but it was of the utmost importance that they not reveal their position to anyone, whether by accident or on purpose.
At any rate, Bill was very interesting to talk to, and had some quite amusing stories about his family. He apparently had five younger brothers and one younger sister. He had also originally wanted to work for the wizarding bank Gringott's, but the goblins were no longer hiring wizards of any kind to work at their banks on the grounds that they might be working for Voldemort.
James was, at the moment, trying to get to sleep, but the flashing of the Aurora outside of his tent was bothering him. It apparently didn't bother his roommates (of which there were three), however, because they were all snoring peacefully.
He could faintly see the outline o f the Aurora darting through the sky through the roof of his tent. Then another shape filled the sky, and James couldn't quite make it out. Not sure if he was seeing things, he crawled to the edge of his tent and peeked outside, craning his head to get a good view of the sky. When he saw what the figure was, he fell over, and then quickly gathered his wits about him and triggered the silent Auror Alarm.
The Dark Mark was hanging in the sky.
* * *
A/N: Hmm. Well. Uh-huh. Anyway, I'm really tired and it's like midnight...(why do I always finish all my chapters late at night??? Why can't I work on them during the day like a NORMAL person? [because you're weird, Sierra, you're weird] Oh, right...well, anyway...)so I can't stay and babble, BUT here is the thank-you section! (Woo-hoo!)
A huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, tremendous THANK-YOU goes to:
Sandra Solaria Dees, FeatherQuill, Amadeus, lilgirlrenegade, Nagini, Meg, Eiknlng, IceAngel, Leandra, Angel Potter Black, SilverPhoenixWings, Haughey, Sailor Kawaii, Fried coffeeholic, *Britz*, Ashlynn Black, Laura aka Rose, Kate, Melody-chan, kittykat, grr..., frizzylizzy, Netty, kaitlin, DizzyGrl, Lyra, ~Rachelle Eva, Aurora, KirjavaLyra, mrp333, KaOs-LuVeR-4eVeR, Midnight Owl, iluvmarauders, Sapphire Dreams, VeRyWiLdWiTcH, Star*dust, sjcw99, sourandsweet, hermioneg, MJ IV, Jessica-Canada, Anie, Lady Ani, Merlin's Quill, Megan McPherson, Sophie, hope19, Alyssa, princess101, bob, and you-know-who.
Whew! Okay, I'm like...tired, and...delirious, and...wow I typed that comma without even thinking about it! haha!
Okay...
DISCLAIMER: This isn't really mine; it all like belongs to JK Rowling, well....except I wrote it...and the whole Mystery Potion and wishing to stir it is really from "Titan A.E." so that's disclaimed too...
DEDICATION: No funny dedications or anything but this whole chapter is dedicated entirely to Star*dust, without whom there would be no silver lockets, and to Britz (who must share the dedication with Star*dust), who lent me plot bunnies. (And her pink frosted donut. But not really. Because she doesn't give things like pink frosted donuts away.)
Okay well that's all buh-bye and please, please, please leave a review? Please? I'm, like...begging...augh. I don't deserve reviews. Well anyway yes I am comatose now woo-hoo!
Okay, buh-bye!
Cheers and Cherry Juice,
~*Sierra Charm*~
But I must apologize in advance for this chapter because it's not very long, and umm...nothing really happens. Sort of. Well, something does, but...oh, never mind. Lots of moping on Lily's part; you'll have to excuse that. I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to put in!
Anyway, the chapter title sucks, so if you have a better idea PLEASE let me know. Thank-you's are at the bottom.
Chapter Seven
Howlers, Birthdays, and Potions
"What day is it?" Hermione asked the next morning in the Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry, who had spent all of last night with his parents and gotten absolutely no sleep, looked up at her from his chair with half-closed eyes and a half-open mouth and grunted. Ron laughed, Hermione gave him a look, Lavender looked up from braiding Parvati's hair and rolled her eyes, and Neville got out a little date-book.
Neville was halfway there when Hermione rolled her eyes and snatched it away. "Never mind, I remember!"
Harry muttered something rather incomprehensible, and Ron translated for him.
"Hermione, he says he loves you, and would you please give him chocolate bunny slippers, and-hey!"
Harry found his strength and kicked Ron in the shins.
"What, exactly, are chocolate bunny slippers?" Parvati asked, one eyebrow raised.
"I dunno, but they sure do sound tasty," Ron replied, rubbing his stomach. "When are we going to go down to breakfast anyway? I'm starving!"
"Fine, no one cares that it's my birthday, I'll just leave then!" Hermione said, rather huffily, and stalked through the portrait hole.
Lavender and Parvati followed her at once, but Harry, Ron, and Neville stared at each other for a moment, and then Neville said:
"This doesn't mean we have to go buy her a present, does it?"
* * *
"My poor little cauldrons!" Lily sniffed, scrubbing religiously at the inside of her favorite with magical mess remover.
"Are you going to be at that all day?" James asked, coming to the door.
"Yes! They're my babies, and Melody ruined them!" she replied, cradling the cauldron in her arms. She then set it down and turned to smile at her husband.
Her smile quickly faded, however, when she saw what he was wearing.
"James, not again," she said softly, looking broken.
"It's my job, Lily! What would you have me do?"
"Stay for a while! Be with Harry. Be with me. Or go home and be with Melody. Just...anything, to get you away from it for a while."
"You talk about it like I have an addiction, Lily," he said, walking over to her. "I'm just trying to protect people."
"What about you? What about protecting you, James? If-"
"Lily, we've had this conversation a hundred times! When is it going to be settled?"
"When I can keep my eye on you twenty-four hours a day. When you quit. When Voldemort dies, take your pick, James, but it's not going to be any time soon, unless I stop loving you."
"Don't say that," James said, pulling her to him. "I couldn't handle that."
"Don't worry. I don't think it's even possible," she said, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Good," James wrapped his arms around her as tightly as possible.
"Don't go," Lily pleaded again. "Please."
"I can't be selfish, Lil, I..."
"Yes you can," Lily said, grabbing the sleeves of his cloak and holding them tightly in her fists. "You've been working almost nonstop for eleven years, James...You've earned the right to be a little selfish."
"Lily, how can you say that when you know what we're fighting for? This is your job, too, and-"
"I've managed to do it without getting myself almost blown up a dozen times."
"We've put a lot of Death Eaters into Azkaban, Lily. It is working."
"Yes, but we've put almost as many of our own into St. Mungo's as well. We almost lost the Longbottoms ten years ago! How many more will it take, James? How many before they get to-" she choked on the word she had been about to say, which was 'you', and James pulled back to look at her.
"Lily, look at me," he said, his eyes fierce and bright. Lily looked at him, her own eyes wet and scared.
"There are too many people out there to fight for. We've been over this a thousand, thousand times, and I need you to be brave. Every time you ask me to stay it gets harder to remember why I go out and risk losing you.
"But they need us, Lily. They need you here to help protect the castle and me out there to help protect everyone else. We can't stop now!"
Lily closed her eyes and looked like she was making a very difficult decision. "Go," she said softly. "Just go."
"I'll be back for Christmas."
"You bloody well better be," Lily said, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder again.
Then, just like that, he was gone. He stepped out of the embrace and left the room swiftly, making Lily feel very cold and alone. She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered. Her robes smelled like James, and she brought a piece of fabric to her nose until his smell, too, was gone, and all traces of James had disappeared from the room.
Three months was too, too long, Lily thought sadly, and returned to her cauldron cleaning, with somewhat less vigor than before.
* * *
"Poo! I don't want to go home!" Melody Potter declared, plopping down on the bed she would have slept on last night, had her parents not kept her up.
"Like you have a choice?" Alex Cauldwell reminded her, his eyes half-closed, looking dead from lack of sleep.
Melody sighed. "I know, but still...don't you think we could have stayed a little longer?"
"You're just mad because you got your suitcase all packed for nothing."
Melody stuck her tongue out at him. He was right, of course, but did that matter to her? Of course not!
Just then Sirius Black bounced (yes, bounced) into the room. Melody blinked and, once again, wondered why, exactly, he was in charge of them.
"Today is the day our first birthday-present arrives!" He said, sounding very much like a little boy.
"Really?" Melody gasped, her eyes widening in excitement. "Ooh, can we go see?"
"Well..." Sirius began.
"Oh, please, Sirius? Please?" Melody begged, jumping up and down.
"We can spy from outside the Great Hall."
"Yessss!" Melody said, and ran out of the room, followed closely by Sirius and Alex.
* * *
When the mail came that morning, Hermione was pleased to receive several gifts from her parents by owl, but her face fell when a red envelope fell at her place.
"Oh no," she murmured, recognizing the letter as a Howler.
Her friends were all looking at the Howler, as well.
"Who would send someone a Howler on their birthday?" Parvati demanded, banging the tabletop. "That is really rude!"
"Well, cover your ears!" Hermione said, as the Howler started steaming. She opened it quickly and covered her own ears, cringing.
And the Great Hall was filled with:
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR HERMIONE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! FROM SIRIUS, MELODY AND ALEX!"
"Harry, I'm sorry, but your godfather cannot sing," Hermione said, shaking her head. They all broke into giggles, and Hermione looked much happier.
Of course, it did get rather annoying how everyone kept wishing her a happy birthday all day long, but oh well to that!
* * *
When Lily found out that it was Hermione's birthday, she began a Potions Class tradition. The only person who protested was Pansy Parkinson, who whined that her birthday had been completely ignored, but Lily told her there was always next year. At any rate, Hermione left Potions class with a beautiful new silver locket hanging around her neck. It was charmed with something special, but the professor had refused to tell her what.
"What if it's a boys' birthday?" Dean Thomas had demanded. "I don't want some stupid old locket hanging around my neck!"
"Well, we'll worry about that when we get there!" Lily had said, sitting on top of her desk and shrugging.
"My birthday's tomorrow!" Seamus Finnigan had yelled out, raising his hand rather unnecessarily in the air.
Lily had glared at him. "Well, we'll WORRY about that when we GET there!"
After that, Potions class had passed rather uneventfully, other than that they all had (unfortunately) been assigned a rather large amount of homework.
"This all your fault, Hermione," Ron complained as the left the classroom.
"Why is it my fault?" She demanded.
"It's your birthday!"
Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and flounced up the stairway. Parvati gave Ron a very pointed look as she followed her friend, and Ron turned to Harry.
"What'd I do?"
Harry just shrugged.
* * *
"Noooooooooo," Melody whined. "I don't wanna go!"
Lily sighed. "For the last time, Melody, you've stayed here long enough, and---Sirius Padfoot Black!" Sirius, who had been stealing a cookie from Lily's secret stash, looked up and smiled, trying to appear innocent, but the chocolate chips in his teeth gave him away.
"That's not really your middle name, is it?" Alex asked, looking at Sirius as he guiltily replaced Lily's cookie jar.
"Who knows?" Sirius shrugged, and he closed the drawer and magically re-locked it with his wand. He smiled sheepishly again and Lily's withering glare and slinked, dog-like, back over to the fireplace.
Without further arguing, procrastination, or cookie stealing, Lily sent Alex and Melody home by Floo powder, and then looked at Sirius for a moment.
Sirius cocked his head at her. "What?"
"Doesn't school suddenly seem like a long time ago?" She asked.
Sirius nodded, being, for once in his life, actually serious. "A very long time ago," he sighed. "When McGonagall still yelled at us for things like...turning Snape's hair blue, or...turning Mrs. Norris into a porcupine, or..."
"Turning Bertha Jorkins into a donkey?" Lily supplied helpfully.
"There you go!" Sirius said, smiling triumphantly, but his smile quickly faded. "We were friends, weren't we, Lily?" He asked, almost sadly.
"Oh, Sirius!" Lily cried, throwing her arms around him. "Of course we were! Once I got past all the...potatoes, and..."
Sirius smiled and squeezed Lily once before letting her go. "Watch out for James, eh?" He said, pinching her cheek a little for no reason. "He is my best friend and all."
Lily smiled. "And you watch out for Melody-both of them. They are my daughter and best friend and all. And don't forget about Alex either, eh?"
Sirius smiled and kissed the top of her head before leaving.
He was a very affectionate guy, Sirius, once you got to know him, Lily reflected, watching him step fearlessly into the fireplace and disappear.
* * *
Melody Cauldwell was trying, hopelessly, to read her lesson plans for the next few Dueling Club meetings. You'd think she'd have it figured out by now, but no...
She had woken up in the middle of the night about two days ago with a brilliant idea, written it down, and now she had absolutely no idea what the little scribbles on the piece of paper said.
"Bubble wrap...bubble gum...bunny feet...b...oh, I give up!" She exclaimed, throwing the piece of paper down onto her desk. Of course, the piece of paper (being a piece of paper and all) refused to cooperate with her on THAT as well, and decided to lamely drift and float about before falling onto the floor on the opposite side of her desk.
Melody growled at it for a moment before getting out of her chair, stomping around her desk, and rather violently picking it up. She accidentally sent it flying airborne again, but this time snatched it before it had time to even think about touching the ground.
"Having fun?" asked a bemused voice from the doorway, and Melody turned to see Lily standing and looking at her.
"Tons," Melody replied, bringing the paper up to her face again. "Eurgh! I can't READ this stupid thing!" She cried, stomping her foot at it.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Give me that!" she insisted, snatching the paper out of Melody's hands and examining it for a moment. "It says: bone-freezing curse, " she concluded after several moments. "See? Simple as that." She handed the paper back to Melody.
"How do you do that?" Melody asked incredulously, sitting back down at her desk and scribbling it down again, more legibly, onto another piece of paper.
"Hey, I have to grade homework. Some of those kids' writing looks like little squiggly lines."
"Well, that's all cursive is anyway," Melody said, shrugging, and digging through her desk for something. "Lots of little squiggly lines." She pulled out a folder and stuck the note inside of it. "I'll work on this later," she announced.
Lily sighed. "This is so different!" she exclaimed. "So different and so...the same."
Melody looked at her and smiled. "Still reminiscing, huh?"
"Well, I can't help it! It's just...being here, and having all of us together again, and...well, actually, not all of us-too bad Remus couldn't have been here, I mean-" But Lily cut herself off, and then sighed again.
Quite suddenly the bell rang, and Lily jumped, realizing that the lunch break was over and that she had class right now.
"Damn, I'm breaking my own late policy," she said.
Melody shrugged. "Hey, I'm supposed to be filling in at Defense Against the Dark Arts. Do you see me complaining? Noooo."
Lily rolled her eyes and grabbed Melody's arm, yanking her out of the office. "In that case, we have to go."
* * *
Lily was working again. The moon hung low and bright in the night sky, and added an eerie glow to the dungeon, its light filtering in through the dungeon's one window and casting odd shadows onto Lily's bubbling potions.
It was a dangerous business, trying to invent potions, and very boring sometimes, too. The process could become long and tedious, especially when you were dealing with finicky potions. Some took minutes to boil; others, as long as a year. When you were trying to invent one, you had no idea how long the potion would need, and as a result there were many potions that had failed when they could have been successful. Also, certain ingredients liked to explode under unfavorable conditions, which made them dangerous to work with as well.
Some witches and wizards were very good at exacting the time needed for boiling a new potion, but they were very rare, and as a result new potions usually came a long in bursts of two or three or six or twelve at a time, usually from the same researcher, who had figure out exact times for many potions all at once. Lily didn't feel she possessed any particular talent for exacting new potions (but how very wrong she was). However, she had already produced four plant fertilizers, two very strong adhesives, a new fantastic stain-remover, a weak new brand of Tickling Potion, and a mild Insanity Serum.
She tested her potions on spiders and beetles (which she felt were two of the least offensive creatures to test potions on), and, sometimes, when she was in dire need of some form of life to test, plants. (Which was how she had discovered her lovely plant fertilizers, although several more plants had been killed in the process.)
Lily was dying to try a potion with phoenix tears, but it was impossible to find a good supply of them anywhere except in illegal trades, or if you had an actual phoenix as a pet, which was extremely rare. (Dumbledore, of course, had a phoenix, but Lily wasn't about to barge into his office and demand phoenix tears-how extremely rude and offending would THAT seem to the phoenix? [Or, while she was on the subject, the headmaster?])
She had several potions bubbling that would be ready in a few days, a few more that were ready to test, and one that she wasn't quite sure about yet, but she had the feeling she'd mixed it in her sleep, because she couldn't remember what ingredients were in it or how long it needed to boil for.
Lily was profusely tired, and found herself inspecting the circles under her eyes in the reflection in one of her cauldrons. She sighed, and stared at the Mysterious Potion.
"I have a stirrer here," she announced to nobody. "And I wish to poke at it, but I'm not sure what will happen if I do." She cocked her head at the potion and yawned, unsure of how to proceed, but after a moment thought that proceeding might not exactly be the best thing, seeing as how she was ready to fall asleep on the lab table.
So instead of testing her potions and figuring out what was in her Mystery Potion like a good girl, she waved her wand at all of the potions and put them away silently. She wandered upstairs to her bedroom (which, naturally, just couldn't be near her potions dungeon) and collapsed, and her sleep was filled with dreams.
* * *
When Lily woke up the next morning, it was raining. It was also a Saturday. She woke up slowly, and for a while just lay in bed, thinking. She still had memories running around in her head from two nights ago, and for some reason she hadn't been able to get any of them to go away. They were memories of Hogwarts, and of the Marauders, and of Melody and Sirius, and Remus and Mimi, and of falling in love with James...wonderful, beautiful memories that made her cry.
She wished James were here right now, to hold her, and kiss her, and...if she had been at school, she could have gone to see him right then. She could have just rolled out of her bed and waited around the Fat Lady's portrait a while before someone came out and demanded to see James. Or she could have gone to MHQ, or gone to find Melody, or...if it had been Seventh Year, she could have just gone to see him no matter where he was, because she would have had all the passwords.
She had all the passwords now, too, but...there was no James, and somehow that made it all seem worthless. She hated this horrible feeling of longing. It just made her feel like not doing anything. Being without James was like being without air, or water, or food, or...something that was really horrible to be without.
How could she get him to stay? If love wasn't enough, what was?
She sighed and finally got out of bed, her mind scrambled. She looked out of the window at the rain falling from the sky. Drops splattered onto the window as well, in a soothing pattern that cleared Lily's mind a bit.
Remus was coming back today, she remembered. That was good, at least. Every time he left, she felt oddly...guilty. Guilty because she didn't have to suffer, too, and because there wasn't anything more she could do about it than just make him a potion, which didn't ease the pain, or stop anything from happening, but it was the least she could do. She wasn't entirely sure why she felt so guilty about the whole situation; after all, it wasn't her fault, but...for some reason Lily just had the instinct to fix everything; to make everyone feel better. Unfortunately, it didn't always work. She wasn't perfect. She wasn't a deity. She couldn't fix everything.
Things were easier when James was around. He eased her tension, partly because he was home and knowing he was safe took one more worry out of her mind, but also because that was just how she felt around him; calm. God, she missed him!
But she was back to square one again, and no step closer to finding...whatever it was she was looking for. If she had ever been looking for anything in the first place, that is.
"Lovely rain today, wouldn't you say?" came a voice from Lily's doorway.
Normally she would have jumped, but the voice was so familiar, and so calm, and so soothing that all she could do was smile.
"Indeed, Professor," Lily replied, not turning to look at him.
"Come now, Lily, I would think after all these years you'd finally be able to call me Albus," the professor said, and now Lily did turn to look at him, and smiled.
"I guess not."
Dumbledore nodded. "What have you been thinking about? You look troubled, my dear."
Lily's smile fell a little, and she looked back out of the window again. Dumbledore crossed the room and stood next to her. Ever since Lily's father had died, she and Dumbledore had become very close.
"Voldemort," she finally said, very softly.
"Ah," Dumbledore said. "He does seem to be on everybody's mind, doesn't he?"
"I'm just worried that we're not doing anything. That we're not making any difference in this stupid war. That James is just wasting all of his time fighting for a lost cause. Please tell me we're not a lost cause."
"The cause can only be lost if people stop believing it, my dear," Dumbledore said kindly, patting her on the shoulder.
Lily nodded, but she did not look as though she felt this were entirely good news. Maybe she had thought that if the cause had been lost, then...well, then she'd be able to see James again. Of course. What else?
"Do you think three months is a long time, Professor?" Lily asked after a moment.
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied. "Especially if we must be separated from the ones we love."
Lily looked down and nodded again.
"You are being very brave, Lily, my dear. I cannot promise that we are near the end, or, indeed, even near the middle, but I know we are moving forward, and you must hold on."
"Thank you," Lily said, looking out of the window again and smiling slightly. Her heart felt a tad bit lighter, but it still wasn't enough to last her three months.
* * *
James was back in Auror camp. He had been moved from Camp A to Camp C, in the hopes that he would be more protected from a direct attack by Voldemort.
At the moment, Auror Camp C was stationed in Siberia, which James had ranked decidedly on the bottom of his "Vacation Destinations" list. It was, to put it mildly, cold. Cold. No, no-not cold; that just seemed much too nice. More like...nighttime on Pluto. All day long.
His clothes for sleeping and daytime were virtually the same, and they weren't allowed to use magic in their tents to make them warmer, because that would be much too easy for Death Eaters to track. Camping like a Muggle in sub-zero weather was less than fun. What in the world were Death Eaters doing in Siberia anyway? That was what James wanted to know.
He wished desperately that he could write a letter to Lily, but that was absolutely out of the question. If there was one good thing about Siberia and its ridiculously freezing nights, it was that the Aurora was absolutely beautiful. The first night there he had stared in awe at the brilliant colors flashing across the sky, and nearly gotten his nose frozen off in the process. Too bad he couldn't take a picture; apparently he'd forgotten his camera.
The other Aurors in his new camp were an interesting bunch. Frank Longbottom himself was there, which James was both excited about and grateful for. They still had a lot to catch up on. Also present was the world-famous Alastor Moody. He was getting on in years, and appeared to have more chunks in his face than the last time James had seen him (which wasn't hard to imagine, as it had been nearly twelve years ago), but he was still the same.
Also present was a rather young-looking fellow by the name of Bill Weasley. Why did that name sound so familiar...? James had wondered this over and over since being assigned to the camp, but he couldn't place the name. He had REALLY wanted to owl Lily then, but there was no way it could be done. They weren't allowed to send owls or have pets of any kind at Auror camps, which severely strained relationships sometimes, but it was of the utmost importance that they not reveal their position to anyone, whether by accident or on purpose.
At any rate, Bill was very interesting to talk to, and had some quite amusing stories about his family. He apparently had five younger brothers and one younger sister. He had also originally wanted to work for the wizarding bank Gringott's, but the goblins were no longer hiring wizards of any kind to work at their banks on the grounds that they might be working for Voldemort.
James was, at the moment, trying to get to sleep, but the flashing of the Aurora outside of his tent was bothering him. It apparently didn't bother his roommates (of which there were three), however, because they were all snoring peacefully.
He could faintly see the outline o f the Aurora darting through the sky through the roof of his tent. Then another shape filled the sky, and James couldn't quite make it out. Not sure if he was seeing things, he crawled to the edge of his tent and peeked outside, craning his head to get a good view of the sky. When he saw what the figure was, he fell over, and then quickly gathered his wits about him and triggered the silent Auror Alarm.
The Dark Mark was hanging in the sky.
* * *
A/N: Hmm. Well. Uh-huh. Anyway, I'm really tired and it's like midnight...(why do I always finish all my chapters late at night??? Why can't I work on them during the day like a NORMAL person? [because you're weird, Sierra, you're weird] Oh, right...well, anyway...)so I can't stay and babble, BUT here is the thank-you section! (Woo-hoo!)
A huge, huge, huge, huge, huge, tremendous THANK-YOU goes to:
Sandra Solaria Dees, FeatherQuill, Amadeus, lilgirlrenegade, Nagini, Meg, Eiknlng, IceAngel, Leandra, Angel Potter Black, SilverPhoenixWings, Haughey, Sailor Kawaii, Fried coffeeholic, *Britz*, Ashlynn Black, Laura aka Rose, Kate, Melody-chan, kittykat, grr..., frizzylizzy, Netty, kaitlin, DizzyGrl, Lyra, ~Rachelle Eva, Aurora, KirjavaLyra, mrp333, KaOs-LuVeR-4eVeR, Midnight Owl, iluvmarauders, Sapphire Dreams, VeRyWiLdWiTcH, Star*dust, sjcw99, sourandsweet, hermioneg, MJ IV, Jessica-Canada, Anie, Lady Ani, Merlin's Quill, Megan McPherson, Sophie, hope19, Alyssa, princess101, bob, and you-know-who.
Whew! Okay, I'm like...tired, and...delirious, and...wow I typed that comma without even thinking about it! haha!
Okay...
DISCLAIMER: This isn't really mine; it all like belongs to JK Rowling, well....except I wrote it...and the whole Mystery Potion and wishing to stir it is really from "Titan A.E." so that's disclaimed too...
DEDICATION: No funny dedications or anything but this whole chapter is dedicated entirely to Star*dust, without whom there would be no silver lockets, and to Britz (who must share the dedication with Star*dust), who lent me plot bunnies. (And her pink frosted donut. But not really. Because she doesn't give things like pink frosted donuts away.)
Okay well that's all buh-bye and please, please, please leave a review? Please? I'm, like...begging...augh. I don't deserve reviews. Well anyway yes I am comatose now woo-hoo!
Okay, buh-bye!
Cheers and Cherry Juice,
~*Sierra Charm*~