*I am so, so incredibly sorry. It's been so long, and I really hope you all will forgive me for taking so long. I tried to make this chapter long and really great, and I hope you like it. It's a bit different, with a setting we've never had before… please review and tell me if you liked it!*

Woohoo! Par-tay! Fifteen chapters, folks! That worked out really, really well! Oh, remember how, a looong time ago, when we started part two that I said that there might be a part three? Well, I've decided there is gonna be a part three! And this chapter starts it! After all, we've still got five years until that fateful night…

And why did everyone think that the story was over? I mean, it's called "The Story of Lily", not "The Abbreviated, Only Goes Through Hogwarts Story of Lily"!! And I'm sorry to whomever told me that they didn't want me to continue because they didn't like it when Lily and James died-I'm going right up until Halloween, 1981!

As always, thanks to my wonderful, caring beta's who are both author's of wonderful stories – Snowlily and ReineDansante.

Oh, this is *so* going to thrill you all! How do you feel about a sequel to this story, following Gwen? And her life w/ and w/o Sirius- after her best friends deaths? Feelings, please!

The Story of Lily

Chapter 15:

**This starts Part Three of The Story of Lily**

**Special A/N: The idea of code names and other things has been taken from Irina's completely and totally awesome story, "The Rebirth" (well, the Epilogue, actually). And I did ask, in case you were wondering. So anyway, applause for her, and go read her story! And the Epilogue, and the sequel, Galatea! And then go join the Yahoo group!**

*Another A/N: I had the most fun picking out code names! They are all real names, and if you want to go to parenthood.com and search what they mean, you'll find they all suit the person I assigned them to!*

Gwen scrunched her nose up at her instructor. "Agent what?" She asked with distaste.

"I told you," Agent Union said, peering down his rather long, ugly nose at the black haired girl in front of him. "It's Agent Alcina."

"I like Gwen," Gwen said, balling up her fists and jamming them on her waist.

"I am sorry," Agent Union sneered, "but it isn't possible to change. Now get in line with your fellow trainees!" He barked.

Gwen clenched her jaw and glared at him. She was about to spit out a very rude comment when large hands enveloped hers and led her gently away. "Sirius!" Gwen cried, struggling against him. "I was going to give him a large piece of my mind!"

"I know, Gwen, and we haven't even had our first lesson yet. Do you really want our Martial Arts trainer against you?" He reminded her.

Gwen made a huffy noise and wrenched out of his grasp. She stood in line in between Lily and Sirius. James, who was on Lily's other side, grinned at Sirius. "Since when are you the peace-keeper?" He joked.

Sirius grinned back and turned his attention to the four people standing in front of the Auror's in training.

"I am Agent Nelson," one man with a burly build and kind brown eyes said, smiling at them all. "I am in charge of the male trainees and I teach physical conditioning. All Auror's need to be strong and can not always rely on their wands for escape. I cover running, swimming, and I prepare you on getting out of very tight situations when your wand isn't an option. Now I will introduce my colleague, Agent Renny."

A small, elderly witch with gray hair stepped forward. "Now, you listen here, laddies," she said. Her accent was Scottish, to their surprise. "Just because I look small doesn't mean I can't handle any o'you. I teach dueling and other useful things you can do with yehr wand. So don't get any ideas," she threatened. Sirius looked as though he was dying to laugh, and Agent Renny marched right up to him and poked him in the chest with her finger. "I don't see what's funny, Agent Rhys!" She poked him so hard he almost fell over. That shut him up.

A very pretty woman with brown hair and blue eyes stepped up after a moment's pause. "I am Agent Charisse." She spoke in a French accent, and Lily's heart ached. She missed Ella terribly already, and she had last seen her that morning. "I am in sharge of ze girl's and I also teash ze trainees wiz special talents. I sink zat is only two of yoo-Agent Dahlia and Agent Keefe?" Agent Charisse's accent was heavier than Ella's was, but a French accent all the same.

Lily made a small noise. She should have known that Professor Dumbledore, who had contacted the Auror agency and signed her up, would have mentioned her 'talent'.

"I will like to be meeting wiz zem after zis is over, s'il vous plait." And Charisse stepped down again.

Next and last was Agent Union ("Agent Onion, he should be called" Gwen hissed into Lily's ear). He looked at them all sternly. "I am the Martial Arts instructor, and my class isn't to be taken lightly. I will prepare you for fighting without your wands, and make no mistake: it will be very hard. Now, come up here and get your schedules. Hurry!"

Chatter broke out amongst the trainees as they went to get their designated timetables. Lily, James, Sirius, and Gwen compared each other's, and the only difference was Lily and James had an extra class right before dinner while the other's had free time.

"Agent Dahlia?" Agent Charisse inquired, coming up behind Sirius. Upon closer inspection, Lily saw that she was only a few years older than she was. Charisse smiled nervously. "I am sorry for breaking up zis-how do you say? -pow wow- but I must speak to yoo."

"Oh, that's all right," Sirius said a bit to eagerly.

Charisse looked much more relaxed. "Good. Zis is my first year teashing and I do not know exactly how to do eet, seeing as I grashuated from Beauxbaton's Academy two years ago."

Lily smiled at her kindly. "Don't worry, I'm sure you're a very good teacher."

Charisse smiled widely. "Sank you, Agent Dahlia!"

"I do too!" James cried.

Lily gave him a withering look and he looked abashed. "Ah," Charisse said knowledgeably. "Yoo two are togezzer?"

Lily grinned at James and he put an arm around her waist. It amazed her that after all the years she had known him, his touch still made her feel very weak at the knees.

"Come, Agent Dahlia. I 'ope to see ze rest of yoo later. I know I will see Agent Alcina when yoo come to yoor dorm. Au revoir!" Agent Charisse smiled at Lily's friends and led Lily away.

"Or river!" Sirius called after her. Lily heard a smack and Sirius' shout. She grinned and followed her teacher into a small room off the main building.

Waiting there was a very handsome man – well, he couldn't have been older than Lily – who grinned when he saw them.

"Agent Dahlia, zis iz Agent Keefe."

Agent Keefe extended his hand and Lily shook it. She felt pleasant tingles shoot up her arm. He was tall, muscular, tan, and had blonde hair and very blue eyes.

Like the sea, Lily thought dreamily.

"Now," Agent Charisse said, interrupting Lily's daydream. "When I was a student 'ere, just last year, I did not like zese 'code names'. So, in my lessons, we weel call ourselves our normal names. I am Marie-Claire, and yoo weel call me zat. Agent Dahlia, yoo are…"

"Lily," Lily said, smiling at her teacher.

"And I'm Chase," Agent Keefe said in an accent that Lily had never heard before.

"Ah, yes, yoo are our student from ze America," Marie-Claire said, smiling at him.

"Yep," Chase said, grinning at Lily.

"All right, now zat we are acquainted, I sink zat yoo should go and geet settled een at ze dorms. Come, mes etudiants!"

"I think I'm gonna have to brush up on my French," Chase whispered to Lily as they followed Marie-Claire out of the small room and into the main building.

Lily laughed. "Me as well! We don't learn foreign language at Hogwarts."

"We don't at Salem either. You went to Hogwarts? My dad graduated from there!" Chase said, grinning at her.

Lily smiled. "What year did he graduate?"

"Hmm…I'm not sure, but I can owl him and ask," Chase promised.

"Is that how you came here?" Lily inquired, wincing as she saw Agent Renny chewing out a boy.

"Yeah, my dad's an Aurora, but moved to the States 'cause that's where mom lived."

"So your father met your mother here?" Lily asked confusedly.

"Yeah, she was here on vacation with a bunch of her friends," Chase explained.

"Oh," Lily said, nodding her head. They approached Lily's friends, and they turned to look at Chase. "This is Agent Keefe, who's in my special class," Lily said.

Gwen was the first to introduce herself. Smiling sweetly at him she shook his hand. "I'm Gwen Watson. Don't call me Agent Alcina, please."

Chase laughed. "Nice to meet you, Gwen. I like Chase."

"You're not from England, are you?" James asked curiously, noting his accent.

"Nope, I'm from the U.S. And do you have the same name as the Minister?" Chase asked Gwen.

Gwen smiled wryly. "I'm his daughter."

"Oh, really? Cool," Chase grinned.

"This is James Potter and Sirius Black," Lily cut in quickly. Chase shook hands with both, and then he turned to James. "I've heard my father talk about a Harry Potter. They were in the same year at Hogwarts."

James' face-hardened. "He was my father."

Oblivious to James's usage of the past tense, Chase continued. "He talks about Harry Potter all the time! He keeps swearing that one day he'll owl him, and your dad too, Gwen."

"Trainees! Please, listen!" Agent Nelson boomed. "The boys quarters are to the left and the girls quarters are to the right! Please go to your rightful places as soon as possible!"

"But that isn't possible," James said quietly, still looking at Chase and not giving any sign that he heard Agent Nelson.

Lily bit her lip and went to him, while Gwen went to Chase. "You might want to be quiet." She hissed.

"Why?" Chase asked with confusion. "And why shouldn't my dad owl yours?"

"Because there wouldn't be anyone to receive the letter," James said shortly. He reached down and grabbed his large duffel bag. "I'm going to my dorm." He walked out the door, leaving Lily standing alone. She sighed and turned.

"Could someone fill me in?" Chase demanded.

"His father was killed last New Year's," Sirius sighed, also reaching down for his bag. "I'm going to talk to him. I'll see you later. Oh, and Chase, don't worry, he's not mad at you, just a little upset that you reminded him. I'll see you in the dorm, mate." Sirius hefted his bag and jogged after his best friend.

"Well, that went splendidly." Gwen said cheerfully. "It was nice meeting you, Chase. Lils, I'm going to the dorm, all right?"

"See you in a bit," Lily said as Gwen exited.

Chase gave Lily a slight smile. "Whoops. I really know how to make friends, don't I?"

"It's not your fault you didn't know," Lily said sympathetically. "James understands that…it's just, the memories are still so fresh…"

"So in other words, don't mention his father?"

"Yes," Lily said, getting her own bag and following his outside. It had just rained, and the ground under them made a slight squishing noise. "He will get over it. So, what is your special 'talent'?"

"I'm a Diviner," Chase said miserably.

"Why is that so bad? And aren't true Diviner's quite rare?" Lily asked anxiously.

"It's bad because I know things before they happen. And no matter what I do, they always happen. I Saw the death of my long time girlfriend last year," Chase explained.

Lily swallowed. "I'm sorry. That is horrible."

Chase shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. Now, what about you?"

"Don't let this get around, because I don't like being the center of attention," Lily begged foremost.

"Okay," Chase promised slowly.

"I'm the Adviser," Lily half-whispered.

Chase stopped. "So – you can read minds?"

"Well, yes," Lily said uncomfortably. "I don't know if I can actually read minds…it's complicated. We can talk about it later, all right?"

"That's fine. I should go my own way. So we must part, fair lady!" He cried dramatically.

Lily giggled, aware that he had caught the attention of the other trainees who were filtering across the ground. "I'll see you at dinner!"

"Farewell!" Chase grinned, and disappeared into the small building that housed the male trainees. Lily, shaking her head and smiling, walked into her own dorm building. The first floor was a comfortable lounge, and Lily mounted the old stairs. Marie-Claire was standing at the top. "Ah, zere yoo are! Ze last one. Yoo are wiz your friend Gwen in zat room," she pointed to a door. "We 'ad a shortage of girl trainees zis year…we only 'ave six. We 'ad a shortage of trainees this year totally wiz only thirteen boys!" She shook her head. "But we need all ze help we can get, no?"

"Right," Lily agreed, and made her way to her own dorm. A shortage of trainees…that wasn't good. Not at all, in fact. Marie-Claire was right – in this fight, they did need all the help they could get.

Lily and Gwen's room consisted of two double beds, a vanity, a nightstand, a closet, and a chest of drawers to share. Gwen was already spreading out her bedspread when Lily came in.

"I saw you," Gwen said. She gestured to the window. "Outside with Chase."

Lily grinned. "He's very handsome, isn't he?"

But Gwen wasn't grinning. "Lily, you need to be careful."

Lily's smile slid off and she dropped her parcels. "What do you mean? Chase is a good guy."

"I know he is. But you still should be careful…perhaps you shouldn't see him very often," Gwen said, standing.

"What?" Lily cried, wondering where this was going.

"What if something happens between you two?" Gwen pointed out, sitting on Lily's bed.

Lily made a noise of outrage. "What in God's name are you talking about? I've only known him for…what? An hour? Nothing has happened! Nothing will happen!" Lily's heart was pounding. She wondered if Gwen could hear it.

"Calm down. I just was making sure that you wouldn't let anything come between you and James. Because your love runs deep, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Lily snapped, and began unpacking. The two didn't say anything else after that.

~*~*~*~*

"Girlz! Geet up! Rise and shine, mes cheris!"

Lily stirred and cracked an eye open. She moaned when Marie-Claire opened their blinds, letting the early morning sunlight in. "Up, up! Ze uzzer girlz are already up! Yoo are ze last ones, so hurry! Yoo do not wish to bee late on yoor first day, do yoo? Agent Union would not bee 'appy!"

"His name is Agent Onion," Gwen mumbled from the bed next to Lily.

Lily sat up and stretched. She was very excited about her first day, so she practically bounded out of her bed and grabbed a towel. "Where may I take a shower?" She asked Marie-Claire.

Marie-Claire shook her head. "I sink zat yoo should take one zis evening. Yoo are not dirty now, but yoo will be later. And if yoo sleep while yoo are dirty, zen yoo will 'ave to wash yoor sheets very often, no?"

"Uhm, I think I understand…" Lily said slowly, putting her towel back on the rack.

"Good!" Marie-Claire smiled. "'Urry up and dress! We 'ave to be in ze breakfast at eight-sirty! Eet is eight-fifteen now!"

Gwen bolted out of bed. "Oh, no!" She cried, and ran to her drawers.

With the help of the mirror Gwen had given Lily for Christmas and very rapidly put on makeup, the girls and Marie-Claire were at breakfast only five minutes late.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner was held in the main building. Lily and Gwen looked around for people they knew, and spotted Sirius, James, and Chase sitting at a table, all looking half asleep with trays of food in front of them. Lily and Gwen smiled at each other and joined the buffet table. Lily chose oatmeal and toast. She plopped down in between Chase and James and poked James in the ribs. He jerked awake and smiled blearily at her.

"You all are a bunch of wimps," she grinned. "We've had to get up earlier than this before!"

Chase peered at her. "Usually I would be as perky as you, but I've lost five hours, remember?"

They finished breakfast and deposited their trays in the back of the room. Agent Nelson stood.

"Trainees! Attention, please! You will begin your training today! First you will go to the track with me! Then on to Agent Renny, and finally to Agent Union. And those of you who need to see Agent Charisse know the time, I believe. Right, let's go, you lot! Off to the track with me!"

The nineteen trainees trooped outside and up a grassy hill. They topped it, and stared. Below was an Olympic-sized swimming pool, a two-mile track, and various other strange contraptions. There was even a cave of some sort. They followed burly Agent Nelson, Lily wondering the whole way what his real name was, and stopped in front of the track.

"Listen up, trainees! You are all going to run once around this track, and if I find you have used your wands in any way to speed up, it is not going to be pretty! Get to it!" He yelled, and clapped his hands sharply.

"Oh, no way," Gwen moaned. "I can already feel a cramp!"

"You shouldn't have eaten three slices of toast, then," Lily sang, and began lightly jogging.

"Lily, wait!" Gwen yelled, and ran to catch up with her. They set an easy pace, and about halfway around the track, the sprinters who had seen it like a race at the beginning were now behind them, clutching their sides and panting. James, Chase, and Sirius were slightly in front of them, talking and laughing loudly.

"I'm glad that they're getting along so well," Lily commented.

"Me too, but I knew James would calm down," Gwen said confidently. Lily poked her in the ribs. "What! I did!"

"Have you seen Katherine since graduation?" Lily asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yes," Gwen said neutrally.

"Oh. How was she?"

"I saw her yesterday before we left. She looked the same as she did on graduation."

"Was she thinner?"

"Not really…and she wasn't quite as subdued. Lily, you need to hurry up and get married."

"Married?!" Lily cried, fed up. "I'm seventeen!"

"You'll be eighteen soon," Gwen reminded her.

"Yes, but I don't want to get married this early! I want to wait and – and…"

"Be sure you're marrying the right one?" Gwen asked quietly.

Lily swallowed and looked down at her feet. They were steadily pounding the dirt track, just as they had been for the last fifteen minutes. Was that it? Was that why she wanted to wait? She hadn't ever pictured marrying anyone but James…but now…she wasn't as sure.

Lily lifted her head and stared at the backs in front of her. The one on the far left belonged to her best friend besides Gwen – her brother – Sirius.

The middle back belonged to James. James, with the ever untidy black hair, the amazing brown eyes…she closed her eyes. She could draw an exact picture of James, down to the small freckle that was above his left eyebrow, without looking at him once.

The last back belonged to the American. Lily cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. She didn't know what Chase was to her yet. But she hoped they could become good friends…

After running, they assembled in front of Agent Nelson. He waited until the last trainee was in front of them, and then he spoke.

"Trainees! That was pitiful! It took you all nearly thirty minutes to run a measly two miles! Now, we are going to practice running every day until you get down to ten minutes! And I want you all to start off together and finish together, with no more than ten seconds between all of you! Understood?"

Agent Nelson's six-foot three burly frame suddenly became very intimidating. She managed a weak, "Yes, sir," along with the rest of her class.

"Good," he said with approval. "Now, the next part of class will be devoted to weight lifting! And the sooner you begin to run faster, the sooner we can move onto swimming. Once you have completed that successfully, we will begin the actual training!" He gestured to the caves. "Now, everyone on your feet!"

He herded them to a pile of rocks, the largest one roughly the size of a briefcase, the smallest could be enclosed in Lily's hand completely.

"This will be easy," a boy scoffed from ahead of Lily. She recognized him as one of the fastest sprinters, and one of the last to finish the two miles.

Agent Nelson overheard and smiled jovially. "That, Agent Wakiza, will be for you and your fellow trainees to decide. Here are your instructions! I want every rock and pebble in that pile to be moved into that crate over there!" Agent Nelson pointed to a wooden crate about thirty feet from the place they were standing. Lily looked at him with raised eyebrows. She had to agree with Agent Wakiza – this did look quite easy. She was one of the first to pick up a rock. Lily gasped in surprise as she picked it up. It was like carrying a weight! Soon, the rest of the trainees' gasps and moans became more frequent, but Agent Nelson's cheery smile stayed in place.

At the end of the two-hour lesson, Lily had moved exactly four rocks to the crate, and when Agent Nelson blew his whistle as a signal that class was over, she exhaled in relief. Between the nineteen of them, they had managed less than a quarter of the rocks.

"Trainees! Pitiful, pitiful!" Agent Nelson cried. "You will keep moving these rocks until all are in the crate! This might save your life one-day, or a friends, just remember that! Now, you have a thirty-minute break, and then you will head to the field for your lesson with Agent Renny! Off with you!"

They trudged up the hill, all looking longingly at the cool waters in the swimming pool.

"Murder," Gwen panted. "Absolute murder!"

"How many rocks did you move?" Chase asked, nudging her.

Gwen glared at him. "Yeah, how many?" James chimed in.

"How many did you move?" She countered at Chase.

"I asked you first," he grinned.

Gwen mumbled something indistinguishable.

"What?" Chase prompted.

"I said ONE!" She yelled.

"One?" Sirius, James, Chase, and Lily chorused.

Gwen muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, "Go to hell."

"I moved four," Lily shrugged. "What about you guys?"

"Seven," Sirius said.

"Eight," James and Chase chimed.

Lily sucked her breath in. Why had she just felt like everything had suddenly become a lot harder?

~*~*~*~*

After their break, which seemed to whiz by, the five friends met outside their designated dorms and followed Agent Renny on a path through woods. The whole Aurora training camp was in a large clearing somewhere in Britain, the location Unplottable. They were traveling through the woods on the right side of the camp. The path was very worn, and Agent Renny lectured them the entire way on not complaining. Did they think she had complained when a dementer cornered her in a cave? No! She had used the knowledge she had acquired from the Auror training!

There wasn't any apparent reason that she had chose to treat them all to this specific lecture, but Lily guessed that it was because someone complained.

They emerged on a large field, but it looked exactly like a golf course, minus the holes and flags. That was how close the grass was cropped.

Agent Renny strode into the middle and cleared her throat importantly. "Trainees! Even though this doesn't require much physical strain, don't get mey wrong, this'll beh hard," she began in her Scottish accent. "Boot first, we have to get yeh in tune with yehr magic. Everyone sit in a comfortable position, and sit at least five feet away frem yehr chums, or anyone else. I need to speak with Agent Dahlia."

Agent Renny motioned to Lily, and the girl broke away from the trainees to follow her instructor.

"Agent Dahlia, I understand that yeh're special, and yehr magic's quite different from others. Much more powerful. So, I'd like yeh to sit and pretend that yeh're meditating, otherwise bad things might happen. Just block out what I'm telling the trainees to do, all right? Block it out. And we might have to sit yeh out when were doing things, because it is my understanding that you haven't yet learned control. Don't forget to block it out. Think of anything else. Now, go sit down," Agent Renny concluded, and strode out to sit in the center of the trainees. Lily stood where she was, thinking over what the witch had just told her. Control? What was that about? She sat down on the edge of the green, a little away from Sirius, who sent her a questioning glance.

Lily shook her head, and turned her gaze from him. She wanted to be considered normal, so she wouldn't even tell her friends about Agent Renny's request. She would just block out her instructions until she learned control.

Gwen's voice woke Lily from her thoughts later. All the other trainees had stood, and were walking about with dazed looks on their faces. Lily tried to copy them and got to her feet.

James shook his head. "That was very strange."

"Way weird," Chase agreed, looking a bit cross-eyed.

Lily desperately wanted to know what had happened, but she decided she wouldn't ask.

"I tried to find that light she was talking about," Gwen put in, and Lily perked her ears. "Mine's a sort of greenish. I – I can't really explain it."

"I know what you mean," the three boys chorused, and Lily smiled nervously.

"Now! Trainees, weh're going to be practicing simple charms, and I want yeh all to picture that ball of light that is yehr magic being put to work! Agent Dahlia, another word?"

Lily obediently followed her just inside the forest where they had spoken before. "Agent Dahlia, have yeh tried to do anything with yehr magic since yeh discovered that power?"

Lily thought. "Erm…simple things, like lighting a fire and summoning and lighting my wand. Oh, and I had to pass my N.E.W.T.'s at the end of the year."

"Did yeh think about yehr powers when yeh did these things?" Agent Renny pressed.

"No," Lily said awkwardly.

Agent Renny thought for a moment, and then led Lily a bit farther down the path, away from the meadow. "I want yeh to find yehr powers and summon that stick over there," she pointed to a loose stick on the ground a few feet away from Lily.

Lily looked at her curiously, but shut her eyes and found her magic anyway. The blue fire was still there, burning brightly, and Lily reached for it. A though occurred to her suddenly, and she opened her eyes.

"Should I command it in my head or say it out loud?"

Agent Renny's eyes widened. "Yeh-yeh mean yeh can do it in yehr head?"

"Yes," Lily said slowly.

"Blessed Mother, no one told meh that!" Agent Renny exclaimed. "Do it in yehr head then, girl!"

Lily re-positioned her wand so it was pointing directly at the twig and shut her eyes again. She found her magic and pictured the twig. "Accio!" She exclaimed firmly in her head. Lily felt magic leave, and opened her eyes. She ducked right before it hit her right square on the forehead. The stick shot in its direction and then stopped, reversed itself, and began moving towards Lily again at alarming speed.

"Stop it!" Agent Renny was crying, "use the finishing spell!"

"Finite Incantatem!" Lily yelled. The force of her command caused the stick to become no more than a pile of sawdust at Agent Renny's feet.

Lily stood to find her small teacher looking at her in bewilderment and awe. "Let's – head back, then," she stuttered at last, her eyes still wide.

Lily wasn't allowed to participate for the rest of class, and Agent Renny's eyes kept darting back to her.

~*~*~*~*

Lily's friends questioned her during lunch, but she refused to answer them. The only one who didn't ask questions was James, who was looking at her, as if contemplating something, through the entire meal.

After lunch, they were lead on a path through the forest, this time to the left side of the camp, and James approached Lily.

"It was your powers, wasn't it," he whispered, taking her hand. They were bringing up the rear of the group, so they could talk privately.

"Yeah," Lily said, and recounted the whole tale to him. When she was finished, James exhaled loudly.

"Wow, Lil," he said finally, and squeezed her hand. "That's amazing."

Lily looked down at her feet. "They scare me. It scares me that I can do something like that," she confessed.

James stopped and lifted her chin. "It's wonderful. You shouldn't be scared, you could do great things with an ability like that."

"And terrible things," Lily whispered.

"Yes, but only if you command them to do terrible things. Use them for good, Lily, and you'll be fine," he assured her. They shared a brief, sweet kiss, and thoughts of Chase vanished. When she pulled away her head was quite light, and a smile found its way onto her face.

The arrived at a clearing, and situated in the middle of it was a building, in which they assembled. It was covered in mats, and had a large boxing ring in the middle. There were punching bags hanging in a group in one corner of the room, and a cluster of ropes were hanging in another corner, knotted. There were dummies in another corner, and the last was where the entry/exit was.

"Attention! Form one horizontal line, facing me!" Agent Union barked. They did so quickly; Lily was squashed in between James and Gwen.

"You will not need your wands. I know it is a rule in this camp to carry your wands at all times, but this is an exception! Everyone, lay them in those cubbies over there, along with your shoes!" He pointed to a set of cubbies, each with the trainees' names on them. Lily quickly took off her runners and placed her wand in the cubby marked, "Agent Dahlia," where upon they did a most astonishing thing: disappeared.

"They are now gathering data about you, so now only you may reach your hand in the cubby and get your belongings. You needn't worry about protection; this buildings has the most recent wards. Now, come and sit on a mat! We are stretching!"

After ten minutes of stretching, the nineteen trainees stood and awaited instruction. Agent Union put them all into fighting stance sideways, both hands in fists level with their jaws. He taught them to throw a punch with their wand arms while guarding their jaws with the other arm. They practiced this motion until Lily was sure she could do it in her sleep. Agent Union then set the each up in front of a punching bag. There were twenty in all, one for each student and one for him. He then demonstrated the punch again, this time his fist connecting solidly with the bag. The trainees followed his example.

"Don't rush, trainees! You want to hit the bag with the same amount of precision each time! Don't get sloppy! Agent Rhys!" He barked to Sirius. "You are rushing! Slow down, hit the bag evenly and consistently!"

They practiced punching until Agent Union was satisfied they had gotten it down. Then they were herded back onto the mats and he taught them to stand in fighting stance again, this time sideways, with their right side facing him, and then to side step with their left legs and kick with their right.

"Side step KICK! Side step KICK!" Agent Union cried as he watched them. Then they were made to stand with their left sides facing him and kick with their left foot. That was harder for some people (including Lily). They then practiced the right and left kicks against the punching bags.

After, they had to do fifty sit-ups. "You had better get used to this!" Agent Union yelled as he walked through the trainees, who were busy counting sit-ups. "Soon we'll work up to one hundred, then one hundred- fifty, and so on! Now, give me ten push-ups!"

At the end of the class, Lily's stomach muscles were screaming. She and Gwen leaned on each other on the way to their dorm, neither having done a push-up or sit-up in their life.

"I'm going to be feeling it tomorrow," Gwen groaned, collapsing on her bed once they reached their dorm.

"I will too, but I bet it won't be as bad as it was when we skied for the first time!" Lily said, taking off her running shoes.

"Yeah," Gwen agreed.

Lily was heading for the shower, which they shared with the two girls in the room next to theirs, when Marie-Claire stopped her.

"Lilee? Where are yoo going? You 'aven't forgotten zat we 'ave our class before dinner?"

Lily heaved a sigh and returned her towel to her room and tied on her tennis shoes. She re-did her ponytail and met Chase and Marie-Claire outside. She glanced over at Chase and her heart skipped a beat. Well, several, actually. His blond hair was damp and it looked as though he hadn't had the chance to dry thoroughly after his shower – his thin white tee-shirt was sticking to his very well defined abs. Lily's mouth went dry. All too late she realized the Marie-Claire was talking to her.

"Lilee? Are yoo zere?"

Lily jerked her head up and blushed slightly. "I'm sorry, what was the question?"

"I asked if yoo 'ad a good day today?" Marie-Claire said patiently.

"Oh, well – it was hard," Lily said simply.

Marie-Claire leaned in closer. "I talked too Agent Renny. She told me and all ze rest of ze staff about what 'appened today wiz ze stick," she whispered.

Lily licked her lips anxiously. "Well – what do you suggest?"

"I 'ave to agree wiz Agent Renny. I 'ave to teash yoo control! I sink zat yoo will probably be able too yoose yoor powers in varying degrees of force once everysing up zere is in order," Marie-Claire tapped gently on Lily's skull.

"Yes, I agree," Lily nodded.

"What are you talking about?" Chase asked curiously.

Lily stared determinedly at her feet. She wouldn't look at him – she wouldn't. Why was this happening to her?

"Nozzing," Marie-Claire said quickly. "Ah! We are 'ere," she had led them to the gymnasium where they had just taken Martial Arts. She pushed them inside and instructed them to sit on the mats. Once they were comfortable, she began. "Now. Zis takes ze utmost concentration. I want no interruptions, oui?"

"Um, okay," Chase said awkwardly, knowing no more than Lily did about Marie- Claire's mixture of French.

"Now, yoo sit Indian style, like zis, and close yoor eyes. Now, I 'ave to regulate yoor breathing-"

"Marie-Claire," Lily interrupted quickly, opening her eyes.

Marie-Claire opened one eye in annoyance. "Oui?"

"Agent Renny told me that I shouldn't meditate or whatever this is," Lily began in hesitance.

"Oh!" Marie-Claire jumped to her feet. "I almost forgot! Excuse moi!" She then placed her wand on Lily's forehead. "Now, yoo must bee quiet for zis," she ordered.

"Uhm – Marie-Claire," Chase began, "have you ever done this before?"

"No, I 'ave not! And I will not mess up if yoo are quiet!" She barked, and closed her eyes.

Lily gave Chase a small smile and closed her own eyes. "Now Lilee," Marie- Claire said in a soothing voice, "I want yoo to find yoor powers. Do yoo see zem?"

"Yes," Lily said in a voice that sounded alien to her.

"Good. Now, I want yoo to take a piece of ze purple magic zat will be coming in once I say zis spell, and form a sin wall around eet. Is zat clear?"

"Yes," Lily said again. A moment later, Marie-Claire uttered a spell and, true to her word, a thin mass of purple magic entered Lily, and Lily worked for a long time on building a wall. She finally opened her eyes, beads of perspiration on her forehead. Chase and Marie-Claire were talking quietly.

"Yoo have been at eet for an hour! Are yoo finished?" The French woman asked expectantly

"Yes," Lily said, feeling dizzy.

"Wonderful! Now, Agent Union said zere might be some side effects, but he didn't really – Lily, are yoo all right?" Marie-Claire's voice became alarmed.

Lily's knees buckled, and even though her eyes were wide open, she felt as though she was seeing through them half-closed. Then Marie-Claire and Chase began to sway and double in her vision.

Chase caught her before she hit the floor.



Wow, that one's long! I hope it makes up for all the time I haven't written! Please review. You all keep me going.

Bella