A/N: a lot of stuff in this chapter isn't HP… nor is it mine… one of my friends told me about it from I think Terry Goodkind…. If that's wrong, I'm sorry… but please, don't sue me! (so all the Palace of the Prophets stuff… not mine!)



Chapter 8: The Palace of the Prophets

Dumbledore returned to Hogwarts leaving James with strict instructions to contact him immediately if anything else went wrong. Both Lily and James were very grateful for all of his help.

When Lily got home, she was very disappointed to see that the house was a total wreck. But, as she didn't have the strength to deal with it at the moment, she waved her wand and everything cleaned itself. She spent the rest of the day in bed, arguing with James about what she could and could not do.

"James, really. I think that I can at least look through the invitations book... we need to choose one."

"Not now, Lil. There's no reason to start with wedding stress right away."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said, summoning the book with her wand.

James intercepted it. "NO."

"Fine then. I'll do something else." Just then her stack of bridal magazines appeared next to her on the bed. She picked one up and started flipping through it. "Are you going to stare at me all day?"

"Yup."

"Please don't, you're making me nervous."

"Well, what would you have me do?"

"Read this," she said, tossing him a magazine. "Get some ideas."

By the end of the week, wedding plans were well underway. There was no further mention of what happened to Lily that night in front of the fire. Aaron had become a part of their little family, and had even started calling Remus 'dad', which they both liked a lot. It had been a long, long time since Remus had that special twinkle in his eye, and every time Aaron called him that, it was very noticeable.

It was that Friday when Marilyn appeared in their living room, yet again, but this time with news of a location for the wedding. Lily's face lit up like a candle.

"Where?" she asked anxiously.

"It's called the Palace of the Prophets," she answered. Judging by Lily's puzzled expression, Marilyn felt the need to explain. "It's much like what muggles refer to as a nunnery. It is a training ground for the Sisters of the Light."

"Essentially they're prophets, Lil," James said, walking into the room.

"Exactly. But it is a beautiful place, and they have agreed to let us use the grounds, provided that you like it, of course."

Well then, I think that we should go and have a look," Lily said.

When Lily and Marilyn apparated in front of the Palace, Lily could feel her heart skip a beat. The door opened, and smiling faces welcomed them inside. Lily at once felt strangely at home.

An older woman stepped forward. "I am Prelate Victoria, I am one of the senior members of this establishment," she said. "You must be Miss Evans."

"Yes, that's right," Lily said. A strange feeling of recognition came over Lily.

"It is a great honour to finally meet you," Victoria said. The other women nodded.

Then it hit Lily. "Your eyes... they're the same as mine..."

Victoria smiled and nodded kindly. "Come with me," she said softly, and led Lily deeper into the Palace.

Marilyn was not at all surprised by this. In fact, it seemed as though she had expected it. She followed some of the other women around and started to take pictures of various parts of the Palace that she was considering for the ceremony and reception.

"It is very rare that we would allow an event such as your marriage to take place on our grounds," Victoria told Lily.

"I do appreciate it. This place is so lovely, but there's something-"

"Familiar?" interrupted Victoria.

"Exactly," Lily nodded. "I don't understand why though."

"Perhaps I can help. Follow me."

Victoria led Lily down a dimly lit hallway and into what turned out to be her office. "Please, sit down," she said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Would you care for anything to drink? Some tea, perhaps?"

"Please." No sooner had she said that then a tea tray appeared, and Lily had a cup in her hand. "Thank you."

"Of course. Perhaps we can have a talk now?" Lily nodded. "You have been told what we are and what this Palace serves as, correct?"

"Marilyn and James gave me a brief description. They said that you are Prophets?"

"Yes, dear. Reading and understanding the great prophecies(?) is a very difficult task. It takes many years to train and learn to control the visions, if you will. It has been brought to my attention that you have experienced some of these visions for yourself, and that you in fact possess the divine gift, is that not so?"

"How did you know that?" Lily asked, not thinking about the question.

Victoria smiled. "Albus Dumbledore and I have been very good friends for many years. In fact, he used to study here, and still comes regularly for meditation purposes."

"May I ask you something?" Victoria nodded. "Why do you and I have the same eyes?"

"Why child, I would have thought the answer to be quite obvious, especially to someone with your natural talents."

"I- I don't understand..."

"My name, my given name, was Victoria Evans."

"But.. how? How is that possible?" Lily asked, growing more confused with each passing second.

"Lily, when I was 17 I had a child. And that child was your great-great- grandfather."

"That doesn't make any sense though! That would make you over 150 years old!"

"Actually I will be celebrating my 275th birthday later this year."

Lily tried to say something, but no words would come out.

Victoria smiled. "It really isn't as complicated as it seems. One of the traits of the Sisters of the Light is that we do not age nearly as quickly as ordinary people do. But you are right, at the time that I met your great- great-great grandfather, I was already 130 years old. Let me start at the beginning though.

I was brought here when I was only 5. Unlike you though, my parents were not muggles. They were a properly trained witch and wizard, both graduates of Hogwarts. They expected that I would go there as well, until that night.

I had had my first vision. I could see everything so clearly in front of my eyes, but nobody else could. Then I fainted, and did not wake for nearly 2 weeks. As soon as I did though, my parents rushed me here. They knew, from that moment, that I had the divine gift. It seemed strange to me, I thought they didn't want me around any more. But I was wrong. There were only a few other children here at that time, it seemed that what the Sisters call a Skip had occurred. That is when the gift seems to skip a generation or two, and it was taking it's toll.

I began my training almost immediately, and I was a very quick learner, if I do say so myself. Over the years I learned to control my fainting and the occurrence of the visions. I also learned the tricks of reversing the effects of aging. That is how I have managed to live for so long.

I remained here for 100 years, teaching the trade to others as it had been taught to me, but it just seemed as though something was missing from my life. So, I spoke with the Prelate at the time, Daphne, and we agreed that I would go out into the world and try to create a life for myself."

"And that's when you met my great-great-great grandfather?"

Victoria smiled. "Exactly. As soon as I met him, I knew what I was missing: love. Edward was a muggle, but accepted me for what I was. After we were married, we had a son, Erik who was not magical at all. When Erik was only 8 though, Edward died. I should have foreseen it, but I had neglected my studies for so long, I was too happy.

I remained with Erik until he was married, and then I returned here. I could not bare the thought of watching another of my loved ones die when I would barely age a day. Also, I knew that one day I would be needed again, by one of my decedents, you."

"I understand if this comes as a shock to you, Lily. But you must know that whatever happens is meant to be, there are many reason greater than ourselves."

"I know... it's just... I just thought that... well, I just thought that the only family I had left was Petunia..."

Victoria laughed. "That girl, leave her where she is. She belongs in the muggle world, even though she resents you for not being a part of it."

"Why didn't anyone tell me before?"

"Someone actually did, only not in so many words."

"Who? What are you talking about?"

"One of your professors at Hogwarts. Professor Trelawny?" Lily nodded. "She actually studied here for a while. As a matter of fact, I was one of her mentors during her time here."

"You mean she's for real? No offense, but we always took her as rather flaky."

Victoria laughed. "So did we. She didn't remain with us long, insisting that her gift was far superior to ours and that she did not need any further training. She had some trouble finding work though, on the outside, so I spoke with Albus, who was at that time an old friend and he agreed to give her a position at Hogwarts."

"Well, that explains a lot about her..." Lily smiled.

"Now that you have been acquainted with a bit of your family's history, why don't we concentrate on the future? It means so much to me, that I will be able to see you married."

"I'm just so excited that I'll have family there after all!"

"My poor dear. I consider it to be a great honour. That is why I approached Marilyn Potter. Albus informed me that she was assisting you and James with your wedding preparations. It was imperative that you come here, for I have taken a vow never to leave these grounds again."

"Come now, let me show you around the Palace. Perhaps we will even find Marilyn."

"Alright," Lily replied, getting up and following Victoria out of the room.

By the end of their visit, Lily and Marilyn had agreed on the perfect spot to hold the wedding ceremony, and Victoria had shown them the gardens which would be perfect for the reception. Just as they were about to leave Lily gave Victoria a big hug.

"Thank you so much, Gran," she whispered in her ear.

"You deserve all of the wonders that the world has to offer you. God be with you, and I shall see you again soon." Victoria kissed her cheek.

Lily wiped a tear from her eye, smiled and said "Bye," before disapparating back to her house with Marilyn.

"Thank you so much for this, Marilyn," Lily gushed as soon as they had both arrived.

"Don't thank me, it was all Victoria and Dumbledore's doing. I was simply the messenger."

"So, what do you think?" James asked, walking into the room.

"It's incredible, James! The most amazing thing happened!"

"Oh really? What?"

"The woman... I'm not alone... the Prelate in charge, Victoria... her name is Victoria Evans... she and I are family. And she's going to be there, James. At our wedding, someone from my family is going to be at our wedding!" Lily was crying now, she was so happy.

"Jesus James! What did you do to her?" Sirius demanded when he saw Lily crying, yet again.

She started to laugh through her tears. "He didn't do a thing, Sirius. Thanks though. It was all Marilyn, and I really appreciate it so much..."

Marilyn smiled and Sirius just looked really confused. "I'll explain it to you later, Sirius... as soon as I figure out exactly what's going on for myself," said James.

"Alright, whatever," Sirius shrugged, picking up a magazine and walking out of the room.

"Sirius, wait!" called Marilyn. He turned around. "I've thought of what you can do for the wedding..."

"You mean other than being my best friend's best man?" he grinned.

"Yes," she replied. "I want you to handle security arrangements. Even though the Palace of the Prophets is one of the only places nearly as safe as Hogwarts, certain measures must be taken. I want you to work on that, if you don't mind."

"No, that's fine. I'll see what I can do at work tomorrow."

"Thank you, Sirius," she said. "And now I must be off. I'll probably be back early next week. I'm going to visit Claire for a couple of days. But, should you need anything, don't hesitate to send an owl or contact me by other means." And with that, she was gone.

That night the only thing that Lily could think about was Victoria and the fact that she actually had a blood relative other than Petunia. Since she wasn't told of any other magical relatives since Victoria's time Lily could only assume that there had been a rather large skip that spanned until she herself was born. As a child, Lily would often dream about things that would end up coming true, but she never thought anything of it until now. It didn't even occur to her that it was anything significant when she got her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts.

"Oh, well," Lily said.

"What?" asked James.

"Huh? Oh! Did I say that out loud?" James nodded and Lily giggled. "Sorry. I was just thinking about today discovery and things that I did when I was little..."

"Ok..."

"Don't worry." Lily smiled. "Anyhow, we found the perfect spots for both the ceremony and the reception... it's going to be beautiful, James."

"I don't doubt it at all, Lil," he said smiling.

The next morning Lily and James found two surprises waiting for them in the kitchen when they finally made it down there. The first was a giant clock on the wall, that was counting down. There was a sign above it that read "Time Remaining of Freedom" and the clock was currently at 32 Days, 8 hours, 23 minutes and 12 seconds.

"Sirius," James said, shaking his head.

"I think it's kinda funny," said Lily, laughing.

"That's what I thought too," said Sirius. "And James, are you actually coming in to work today? Ocran has it in for you I think... at this rate you won't have enough time off for your honeymoon."

Lily's smile disappeared. "You'd better go in then, James. I'll be fine here."

"You sure?" She nodded. "Okay, I suppose I'll actually go in today..."

"Before you do, I have some news," said Remus, entering the room. All three turned to look at him with questioning glances. "I've found a place for Aaron and me to live, so we'll be moving out on November 1."

"Are you serious?" asked Sirius.

"You're sure about this, then?" James asked.

"That's wonderful for you!" exclaimed Lily. "I knew you'd be able to do it."

Remus smiled. "As long as you all keep your promise to help out once a month, I think things will turn out really well for us."

"Of course we'll help you! Haven't we always?" said James.

"Yeah!" added Sirius.

"Glad to hear it. I'm going to go wake Aaron up and tell him the news, if you'll excuse me..." and he left the room.

"We should probably get going too... be back for dinner... love you!" James said, kissing Lily goodbye.

"Me too," she said.

"And what about me?" Sirius grinned.

"I love you most of all," Lily said, jokingly. She then kissed his cheek. "Have a good day!"

By the time James and Sirius got home, the giant countdown clock in the kitchen was at 31 Days 21 Hours 57 Minutes and 35 Seconds.

"That was a long day," said Sirius as he collapsed onto a kitchen chair.

"Tell me about it," agreed James. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "All that smoke was just too much..."

"Well, nobody told you to actually walk into the room."

"Well, there really didn't seem to be any other option."

"Listen, I really don't want to get into this again."

"Me neither... Is there anything to eat?"

Sirius pointed his wand out and aimed it at the refrigerator, which immediately opened. "Looks like Lily or Remus left us some dinner."

"Thank god," James said, levitating the food to the table.