Chapter 52
Dark Summer Holidays
Note from J.M. Jackson: So this week has been a bad week for me. Sadly, one of my beautiful fur babies, Alfie, passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Writing has kept me focused on doing literally anything, and this Chapter, and every Chapter, is dedicated to the beautiful Alfie. Rest in piece, my sweet, baby boy.
Being back home for summer was different for Lily. Since starting to take the Femininus Draught¸ Lily's skin had become softer, her body fat had shifted slightly, and her face had become smoother. When she wore eyeliner, her eyes seemed bigger, and without the necklace, her voice spell could last up to five hours at a time. She still wore the necklace, however, especially since she had gotten the necklace from Ginny enchanted, so she now had two.
The first two weeks of the summer holiday had been spent going over as many security procedures and learning where to escape to. Lily had been told to always keep her invisibility cloak with her, which she did. She wasn't allowed to go anywhere alone, but Ginny had been staying at the house since the start of summer, so they were inseparable.
There was also several security spells and enchantments around the house, so no one who wasn't allowed could go near there, at least from the wizarding community. Muggles, Sirius said, would never be used by Voldemort, since he didn't see them as anything but dead weight.
Spending time with Ginny was the best part of the first two weeks, with Ginny working hard to keep Lily distracted. They watched movies, Sirius made arrangements for them to have dinner out at restaurants, with people nearby watching them for security.
Sitting in a local café, Lily and Ginny were enjoying lunch, with Sirius and Remus at a table on the other side of the café. "Is it weird that whilst it was Crouch who said it, I'm actually considering becoming an Auror?" Lily asked. Ginny smiled.
"No, it's not weird. Whilst he might have been evil, you fighting dark wizards makes sense," Ginny said, smiling as she took a sip of her drink.
"I guess. I just… I know this sounds insane, but I still don't know what I'm doing," Lily replied, frowning as she looked at her Pepsi. "I've been… thinking, a lot, about the Order, about what to do with the group, and what happened…"
"You're still having the nightmares, aren't you?" Ginny asked, looking into Lily's eyes. "I can hear you mumbling and crying from the next room. You aren't to blame for any of this, but I do think we should take you to St. Mungo's to speak to someone."
"What about?" Lily asked, frowning.
"Okay, don't be annoyed, but Hermione and I were talking on the phone, and we both agree that we think you have… well, there are two things that it could be, the muggles call the first Depression, where you can't feel happiness, like when a Dementor's nearby. The other is PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I think there are some muggle doctors who can help you as well," Ginny explained. "Would you object to going with me to St. Mungo's?"
Lily looked at her. "I guess not. I mean, I trust you, you know that, right?" Lily asked.
"Of course I do," Ginny agreed, smiling at Lily, before taking a chip from Lily's plate. "These are really good. I have wondered about how muggles make their food so good."
"Well, they do spend years training. Maybe we should take a summer cooking course," Lily said. "I mean, I love being at Hogwarts, but it doesn't really teach us important skills for surviving in the world."
"Like cooking, cleaning, stuff like that?" Ginny asked.
"Muggle studies touches on it, but yeah, basically," Lily agreed.
"Alright, let's do some lessons with the Order when we start at Hogwarts," Ginny suggested. Lily nodded.
"About that, I've been thinking that we call it the DA to begin with, and when the people are ready, they move up to the Order of the Dragon," Lily suggested.
"That makes sense," Ginny agreed. "We can ask mum, Dad, Remus, and Sirius to teach us, and we can go and get some muggle books today if you like."
"Alright, let's go," Lily said, finishing her drink. As she and Ginny stood up, Sirius and Remus did the same, walking over to them.
"Where next?" Sirius asked.
"Bookstore," Lily answered, before explaining the plan.
"That sounds very responsible, Lily, well done," Remus said, smiling.
"Thanks, Uncle Remus," Lily blushed as they left the café. They walked along the streets until they found a bookstore, buying three bags full of cooking books.
"Okay, so looking at this, we'll need a number of different implements, so can we get some of them?" Lily asked.
"Anything you want," Sirius replied, smiling. Lily hugged him, before holding Ginny's hand, walking down the street again.
By the time they had finished their shopping trip, Sirius's car was full of cookbooks, utensils, baking trays, and cooking ingredients. Lily was looking forward to baking cakes, and as they neared home, Sirius pulled over for petrol, with Lily and Ginny going into the station to get some chocolate, drinks, and to pay.
When they came out, both Lily and Ginny froze, looking around. "When did it get so misty and cold?" Lily asked.
"It wasn't like this when we went in," Ginny replied, as they walked over to the car, seeing Sirius and Remus by the car, looking around.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Sirius said, frowning as he looked around as Lily put the chocolate and drinks into the back of the car.
"Uncle Sirius, pull the car away from the main station, we'll look around," Lily said, pulling out her wand.
"No, get in the car Lily," Sirius replied. "Now."
"Don't argue, Lily," Remus added firmly. Lily went to get into the car but stopped as they heard a scream from around the corner. Without hesitation, Lily ran towards the source of the scream, followed by Ginny, Sirius, and Remus.
Running down an alley near the petrol station, Lily saw several people on the ground, huddled together. What angered and terrified her was the fact that surrounding the people were Dementors!
"What are they doing here?" Ginny exclaimed.
"No idea," Lily said, before racing forward. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" she called out. The Silver Doe shot out of her wand, followed by waves of bright light. The Dementors, which had been gliding in a circle around the muggles, saw the light, and immediately began to flee.
"LILY!" Sirius called out, catching up as the Dementors continued to flee. "Dementors!"
"They're gone," Lily said, as they ran over to the people, with Remus looking over them. "Are they okay?"
"They need to be looked over by Healers," Remus said, using his wand to gently stun them. "But they should be okay."
"I'll summon help," Sirius said, using his wand to send a message to the ministry. "I don't understand, what are they doing here?"
"Do any other witches or wizards live in the area?" Ginny asked.
"Not that I know of," Sirius replied.
"Then someone sent them for me," Lily replied. "Has to be, right?"
"Maybe, but I'm not jumping to conclusions. Voldemort can't know you live around here, can he?" Sirius asked tensely.
"If his people work at the Ministry, then they'll be able to tell him the rough area," Remus pointed out.
"Then we move to one of the backup places," Sirius said firmly. "Tonight."
"Uncle Sirius, he won't be able to find us though, will he?" Lily asked. Sirius looked at her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"No, but I'm not taking any chances, not with your life, Lily," Sirius said softly. "I will do whatever I need to do to keep you safe."
"I know, Uncle Sirius," Lily said, hugging him as Ministry Wizards began to appear.
"What happened?" one of them asked in a deep voice.
"Kingsley, good, I'm glad you're here," Sirius said. "Lily, this is Kingsley Shacklebolt, he's one of the Order. He was around at Hogwarts last year, although you didn't get a chance to meet."
"Lily Potter, a pleasure," Kingsley said, smiling at her. His smile then faded as he looked at the area. "Sirius, what happened?"
"We'd been shopping in Manchester, and coming back, I needed petrol in the car," Sirius said.
"Petrol?" Kingsley asked. Sirius rolled his eyes.
"Kingsley, seriously, you need to learn more about muggle technology. Petrol is a fuel, used as a propulsion element. Anyway, when we were about to leave, we felt cold, and had a bad feeling. Then one of those kids screamed. We came and found several Dementors here," Sirius explained.
"Dementors, here?" Kingsley's eyes widened in shock as the muggles were magically lifted onto stretchers, so they could be apparated to St. Mungo's, with Remus talking to the Auror's helping them.
"Yeah, I had the same reaction. Lily drove them away with her Patronus charm, a silver doe, just like her mother's," Sirius said.
"A corporeal Patronus?" Kingsley asked. Sirius smirked.
"Yeah, she's that good," he boasted. He then sighed. "I'm thinking of moving away from here, if Voldemort knows about her."
"Not a good idea, not yet," Kingsley said. "If You-Know-Who has people working at the Ministry, then they'll know the new address since they need it, if Lily's going to be returning to Hogwarts."
"I… damn, why do you have to be logical here?" Sirius asked angrily, as Remus joined them.
"I filled in the Auror's, they're checking the area for the Dementors, and they'll escort the muggles to St. Mungo's, checking them over before modifying their memories. Thankfully, none of them were kissed by the Dementors," Remus said.
"Thank goodness," Lily said weakly. "What… what happens now?"
"Well, I'll write the report, but right now, maybe staying somewhere else wouldn't be the worst of ideas," Kingsley replied.
"What about Headquarters?" Remus asked. "Since it's been fully cleaned and sorted out, we can all stay there."
"That could work," Sirius agreed, with a small smile.
"Headquarters?" Lily asked, tilting her head.
"Of the Order of the Phoenix," Remus clarified. "Let's get you home and pack our bags. We can then head to Headquarters. Kingsley, can you let Molly know?"
"Of course," Kingsley agreed, as Sirius took Lily and Ginny by the hand. They made their way back to the house, quickly packing everything, including what they had brought in Manchester.
When they got back into the car, Remus had used magic to expand it to allow more of their belongings as they prepared to leave, with Lily resting against Ginny, closing her eyes, just as Ginny did the same, resting on Lily, both falling asleep quickly.
Lily woke up as she felt someone gently nudging her. "Lily, wake up," the sweet voice of Ginny brought her to consciousness, and as she opened her eyes, she saw Ginny smiling at her. "We're here, Lily," Ginny said, before kissing her softly.
"Where?" Lily asked, seeing a row of houses outside of the car.
"I don't know the area, but we're in London," Ginny said, as she got out of the car, with Lily following her out.
"Uncle Sirius?" Lily asked, seeing him and Remus getting the bags from the car, with Kingsley helping them.
"Lily, Ginny, look at this," Sirius said, giving Lily a piece of paper. There was a single sentence on there – The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place – and as Lily and Ginny read it, they looked up, seeing a house there that hadn't been there before.
"What the hell?" Lily asked, blinking several times.
"Fidelus charm," Sirius explained. "Come on, let's get these bags in, we took everything else in before we woke you both up."
Lily and Ginny walked into the house, and the second they were in, both were grabbed by Molly Weasley, pulling them into a hug.
"Oh, thank Merlin you're both okay!" Molly exclaimed, kissing Ginny's forehead, then Lily's. "I was so worried!"
"Mum, we're okay," Ginny said, hugging Molly. "Lily fought off the Dementors, without even breaking a sweat."
"Lily, you saved Ginny! Oh, thank you," Molly said, hugging Lily again.
"Molly, let's get everything put away, then we'll explain what happened," Sirius said.
"Right, good idea," Molly agreed, helping with the bags. When everything had been put away, Lily and Ginny were sat in what looked like a dining room, around a large table, with all eyes on them.
Bill, Arthur, Molly, Kingsley, the real Moody, Nymphadora Tonks (Mad-Eye's protégé,) Mundungus Fletcher (Who was introduced by Molly with a scowl), Sirius, Remus, and Minerva all looking at the two of them.
After explaining the story, Minerva looked worried. "How could this happen? I mean, Dementors in Alveston? That's not possible," Minerva said.
"Then someone knows Lily was there, probably someone working for Voldemort," Sirius said. "My guess would be someone working at the Ministry."
"Finding them would be very difficult," Kingsley replied. "We weren't able to catch the Dementors, although one of the Auror's caught a glimpse of them fleeing. Hell of a Patronus you cast, Potter."
"I made sure to teach her well," Sirius said, smiling.
"We'll need to make sure that Potter isn't left alone," Moody said gruffly. "I should have known there'd be filth at the Ministry, after that business with Crouch. Wouldn't be surprised if White himself is behind it."
"Alastor, we can't make accusations like that without having evidence. Kingsley, what happened when you returned to the Ministry?" Minerva asked. Kingsley looked uncomfortable as he answered.
"The Minister wanted to expel Lily for using Magic outside of school, but with the evidence we all provided, he had to agree that her use of magic was justified," Kingsley replied. "His Undersecretary seemed to think he could get Lily expelled anyway, but the whole group pointed out that it was a legal use of magic."
"Expelled? That ignorant moron really is pushing it now," Sirius snarled angrily.
"Uncle Sirius," Lily warned as she saw his canines elongate. Sirius nodded and took a deep breath.
"Lily, we need to discuss this together, you and Ginny should go upstairs and get some sleep," Sirius said.
"I'll show you your rooms," Molly said, standing up and leading the two of them outside.
"Everything's going to be okay, isn't it, Mrs. Weasley?" Lily asked. Molly nodded, smiling softly at her.
"It's going to be just fine, I promise," Molly replied, showing Lily where she and Ginny would be sleeping. As Lily settled down in her bed, across the room from Ginny, Lily felt a sinking feeling in a pit of her stomach. Despite Molly's objections, she knew that this was only the beginning, and things were going to get much worse.
