15th November, 1981.

It's been two weeks after the battle, and the Wizarding World was still busy with the aftermath. The Order had won, the trials of the captured death eaters were still ongoing, and Ludovic Bagman started a betting pool whether Azkaban would be big enough for them all. There were rumours that Voldemort had been found at the bottom of the castle's walls, muted, deboned, and with a thestral's hoof mark on his face.

Lily, Alice and James had a tight schedule talking to the press and aurors of several countries, but none of them could give a pointer about where Grindelwald had gone. They found their children safe by the thick wooden door, the sole part of the castle that remained untouched by the battle – and that was enough for them, right now.

The current issue of the Daily Prophet brought Augustus Rookwood's fall on the editorial. The renowned Unspeakable was caught when he attempted to smuggle the defeated, crashed, but somehow still living Voldemort from the Department of Mysteries.

Lily paid at the vendor and walked down Diagon Alley with the afternoon news. There were wanted posters of identified death eaters anywhere she looked; some of the photos had been taken when those witches and wizards had been highly respected members of their society. More than the third of the Ministry's departments lost its leaders, and some in the Wizengamot argued it's not against the law to sit in the jury when their own trial was scheduled for only the day after.

The witch spotted her former headmaster as he stepped out of Garrick Ollivander's shop. Greeting him with a loud "Hi, Albus!" came easier to her mouth than a single month before.

"Lily! I missed you at the Order's split-up party."

"Somebody had to stay with Harry at home," the witch replied. She didn't want to hurt Albus with a more blatant lie, when in truth, she had been looking forward to an evening when she could just enjoy some quiet and read Essays on Wardbuilding instead of chatting with Mundungus Fletcher.

But there were other topics she had to talk about, and she couldn't do so with other Order of the Phoenix members around.

"My thestral came home. He was hunting for gnomes in the backyard when I woke up today! Can a thestral ever wear himself out?"

"Not as easily as we can," replied the headmaster. By that glow in his eyes, he must have concluded that the beast had a letter in his mane upon his return. "Do you think James would mind if I invited you for a coffee?"

"He will have to bear with ten more minutes of childcare," shrugged Lily. "But I'd prefer a sandwich, if you don't mind. There's a fantastic place just over there, on the muggle side."

Dumbledore nodded.

On their way through the Leaky Cauldron he talked about how much simpler his life got since he had announced his retirement, while how heartwarming it was to see Minerva preparing for taking over as headmistress.

"James told you I gave his cloak back, I trust? I wouldn't like to be accused of anything the next time he slips out under it."

Lily laughed.

"It's bad enough they're riding Sirius's motorbike invisibly. Still immature, but I love them!"

Albus paid for their sandwiches, and she wasn't even surprised to see him carrying muggle money. Then they settled at a quiet table and Lily cast an anti-eavesdropping charm on them.

"What is that spell? I don't think I recognize its wand movement."

"It is Muffliato. Severus taught me..." And the way her emerald green eyes looked at the headmaster made that statement into a request and a plea.

"The Wizengamot couldn't close his case yet. Well, Peter at least is willing to denounce his accusation of torture..."

Lily sighed. It had taken her two long hours to make Wormtail do this, as Snape had also kept his silence when the Marauders almost killed him at the end of their fifth year. In that case the little rat had been the only one not involved, and now he was reluctant to forgive the Unforgivable. But when he had asked why he'd do that for the dark lord's lackey, he had received several piercing glares at his left arm, and he had eventually admitted defeat.

"The biggest problem seems to be," said Dumbledore, "that Igor and Bellatrix played a smaller role than Mr Snape had. If the jury accepts the denouncing of the accuse, it will mean they are free as well. Igor might find a moderate support here and there, but everybody agrees that Bellatrix is a danger to the public."

"Did none of the death eaters say something against her?"

"Their word is null and void until she herself gives a statement. But when she was given Veritaserum, she started babbling how she'd free Voldemort even at the cost of her own life. Which is bad in itself, but not punishable as long as it's a mere promise."

"Just save Severus, please!"

"Even after what happened?"

Lily nodded. "James is teasing me already that everybody needs a dark wizard in their lives. They claimed Peter for themselves..."

Both the witch and the wizard laughed aloud, earning curious looks from the muggles around them. Then they both stopped laughing. The Marauders had Peter Pettigrew among them, Lily had Severus Snape... And they both knew who the dark wizard in Albus's life would be.

"This was in Armin's mane," Lily spoke after a while. "And now I think I can stop playing owl between two adult and capable wizards."

Albus took the envelope from her and cast a detection spell on it. Soft blue light, like that of a portkey, seeped from inside the parchment.

"We received one as well," the witch stated. "And he wants us to tell Harry what transpired. That's reasonable, isn't it?"

"A life debt can be a vast burden, and an upsetting one. I'm also troubled by the fact that our mutual friend won the one and only wand that has Fawkes's feather as its core."

"Did he?"

"Garrick is under the impression that one day that wand would become as famous as... Another."

Lily looked into his peaseful blue eyes. 'Sparky' really descrbed them well. "And is James's cloak really related to that other wand?"

"It is. I gave my word never to babble about it."

"And the rest?"

The resigned headmaster shrugged. "Not even I can know everything. But if you'll excuse me, I should be going. I promised to visit Gregorovich in the morning, and it'll soon be noon over there."

"You mean the wand specialist or the quidditch player?"

"The former," Albus replied while he banished his tray to the appropriate corner of the fast food restaurant. "The wand I won in Berlin had been stolen from him. I had my reasons not to give it back before, back when I had been burdened with all my titles. But after sitting in those chairs for so long, I decided I should go and travel the world before I would grow old." He pocketed the envelope that came from Armin's mane.

"Have a nice journey," Lily stood up. "And thank you, for everything. To the both of you."

Albus Dumbledore smiled, as if to himself. Clearly, the witch understood he never intended to travel alone. "I thank you, Lily. On behalf of both of us."