Hey--sorry it took so long to write this. I'm experiencing temporary writer's block due to the absence of my Muse, Frodo. I like getting parts out as regularly as possible, so hopefully the next one will be out within a week. Oh--I made some changes to chapter one, so go back and read over it if you get confused. It's simple, actually. Two years was changed to eleven years for the sake of Lily going to Hogwarts when Hermione and Ron start, but that won't happen for a few chapters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, wish I did though.

Part Two:

Confession

Six months. Six months of staring at the serene white walls with their ugly calming blue border. Six months of waiting after Dumbledore had promised her freedom. Six months of sedatives, of sleep inducing pills, of mind-numbing sessions with the psychiatrist. Six months of what she had deemed hell. But it was worth it. She was finally about to be free. She had spent about eleven years at St. Mungo's, in the same room, watching as people left and were readmitted. Watching a young blond boy visit his parents every month. His parents didn't recognize the boy. If James came back to life, would he recognize her now?

Lily got up from the bed and walked over to the bathroom that was adjacent to her room. She looked into the mirror for the first time in months. An unrecognizable face stared back at her. Her hair was matted and uneven in length. Her once bright eyes were now dull and highlighted with dark bags underneath them. Lily slowly turned on the sink and splashed her face with water, trying to rid herself of the unknown face. She looked back into the mirror. The same dirty and disgusting girl stared back at her. Angered, Lily's fist shot forward and into the glass.

"You didn't need to do that, I'm only showing you the truth," the mirror said irritably. The mirror was undamaged, but the same wasn't true about Lily's fist. She was bleeding at the knuckles. She slowly allowed the cold water to run over her hand, stinging the cuts that decorated it.

"Lily Potter," she heard from behind her. Her nurse stood in the doorway, watching as Lily guiltily sucked on her fingers, drawing the blood into her mouth. She turned around and spat, the dark liquid running down the sides of the basin.

"Yes?" she answered quietly. The nurse walked over to her and pulled out her wand. Lily felt the cuts heal on her fingers. The mirror thankfully remained silent.

"Are you ready to go?" the nurse asked, suspicion rising her voice. Lily didn't bother to answer the question and allowed herself to be led out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. A small bag containing her few possessions was lying on the floor. Lily picked it up and followed the nurse out of her room. She glanced back over her shoulder. She was glad to be rid of the white walls, the serene environment. She would be entering the world of the hostile, the uninviting, the unwilling.

"Lily," she heard. Dumbledore next to the door, beckoning to her. The nurse exchanged glances with him and handed him a small package. He silently led the way out of the lobby of St. Mungo's. Lily suddenly felt chilled as the cool August air hit her face. It had been years since she had been outside.

"I figured that we'd take the Knight Bus. I don't think you're ready to Apparate," Dumbledore said. He started a steady line of mindless chatter, most of which Lily ignored. The trees, the leaves, the ground--it was all so unfamiliar. She stopped and stooped down, grasping a handful of the dirt in her hand and letting it sift through her fingers.

"You've had a lot of publicity…" Dumbledore trailed on. Although almost ten feet behind him and ignoring most of what he said, this particular sentence caught her attention. She quickly stood up and allowed the rest of the dirt to fall to the ground.

"What?" she asked sharply. Dumbledore looked at her, his eyes full of concern. The tone that Lily had used was one that she hadn't used in almost eleven years. It was as if she was regaining a part of her past self, a part that she had lost when she had lost her baby. Dumbledore allowed Lily to catch up with him and pulled a small scrap of parchment out of his pocket. Lily Potter released from St. Mungo's, the headline read. Lily looked at Dumbledore and then continued to read.

Lily Potter released from St. Mungo's

Rita Skeeter

Lily Potter, whose husband James Potter was killed by he-who-must-not-be-named, is to be released from St. Mungo's tomorrow. Potter, who lost her unborn child and husband within a year of each other, has been there for over eleven years. When asked if Potter is mentally stable, doctors replied that "she's been here for eleven years, she'll never fully recover…" Potter will be released into the care of Albus Dumbledore and be given the position of his personal assistant. When asked why he is taking her in, Dumbledore replied, "She may still be keeping secrets….secrets that could help us to figure out exactly what happened that night." Doctors have asked that reporters stay clear of St. Mungo's tomorrow when Potter is leaving.

"You're taking me in out of pity," she stated when she finished reading. Dumbledore sighed and shook his head.

"No, Lily. I'm taking you in because I know that you know something. I know that you aren't telling us something about what happened that night," Dumbledore paused and looked Lily straight in the eyes. "Something isn't right. And you know what it is."

Lily looked down at the ground. It had really been eleven years, eleven years of hiding the truth. Eleven years of a friendless, pointless existence, one that she could have easily fixed. She looked back at Dumbledore, meeting his eyes. "Sirius…Voldemort…" she trailed off, not completing her sentence.

"You don't have to worry. Sirius is still in Azkaban and Voldemort--well…he's gone." Dumbledore sighed and looked over at Lily. "He was destroyed shortly after the attack. Nobody really knows how. It was as if he just burst into flames, something must have gone wrong that none of us know about."

"No, Sirius…" Lily interrupted. Dumbledore looked at her with interest in his eyes. Lily mustered all the courage she could get and looked straight ahead. "Sirius…innocent. He wasn't our secret keeper." The moment she said it, she felt as if a giant weight had been lifted from her chest. She heard Dumbledore's gasp of surprise as she turned around and stared at the landscape surrounding St. Mungo's. She felt as if she was truly free now. Truly free of the home she had made for herself inside of her head for the last eleven years. Truly free of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

I'd also like to thank Katherine aka Star (She kept it a secret because I wanted to stick as closely to the original HP plot line as possible), Llynya, myself, crazed spyromaniac, and AgiVega (I actually didn't think of this until after you pointed it out, but no, Lily was not pregnant again. Petunia announced her pregnancy to Lily several months into it because they aren't on the greatest of terms. Thanks for reading this.)

-Black Ice