Lily sighed as she made her way from her shower to her bedroom. She couldn't believe she was going to do this, not after everything that had happened. She swore two years ago she would never go back to that world and yet here she was, getting ready to go back. But, as much as she feared it, she knew it was the only choice she had if she were to solve the problem of her haunting. The "Help me"s and visitations were wearing her down and unless she did something about them soon she'd most likely collapse of exhaustion.

So she dressed and she dried her hair and she left for the bar where she was meeting Dave, fear and anxiety at the forefront of her mind.

"Just a water please," she ordered to the barman who sighed at the order.

"Tap, still, mineral, fizzy…" He began rattling a list off.

"Oh, whichever," she answered tiredly.

The barman grabbed a bottle, "Mineral it is then."

"Fine," she said, handing over the money and taking a seat at a table in the corner.

Five minutes later a voice spoke to her, "Hey, Lily."

She smiled up at Dave. "Do you want a drink?" She asked him, standing up.

"Sit down, I'll get it myself."

Lily did as she was told and a minute or two later Dave was back with a glass in his hand.

"So what's this all about?" he asked as he sat down.

She told him a brief version about how she was struggling to sleep so as not to worry him.

"…And the doctor can't find a cause so I kind of need…"

"To go back. I get it. You need help?"

Lily nodded weakly. "I know I swore I wouldn't but I'm desperate."

Dave took her hand across the table. "You don't need to explain. When do you want to do it then?"

"Today?"

"Sure," Dave said, a surprised smile on his face.

An hour later the two made their way to a small run-down looking pub.

"You mind if we go through?" Dave asked the barkeeper, who shook his head in reply.

"Can you remember the numbers?" Dave asked Lily as they passed through the back door, coming out into a tiny flagged garden inside a high wall.

"Three up, two across," Lily answered almost automatically.

Dave smiled at her recall. "Right then," he pulled a long, thin piece of wood from his pocket and tapped the offending brick on the wall.

"You know," Lily said as he did this. "I'm not sure this is a good idea."

"Lily…" he said patiently.

"I know. But what if something happens."

"I'm here, don't worry." He finished as the wall opened up to reveal a busy alley.

Like the first time she had stepped through the wall, Lily was in awe at the sight around her. People dressed in different styles rushed up and down, shops proclaiming things she'd never even heard of stood in rows down the alley.

"It's been so long since I've been here," Lily gasped, fighting the urge to go into Flourish and Blotts and buy a book.

Dave smiled. "Come on, you can reminisce later."

Lily nodded, "Okay. Where do I go then?"

"Knockturn Alley," Dave said, heading towards it.

"What? No!" Even if she had been away, Lily remembered what a horrible place that was, full of darkness and evil.

"It's the only place you're going to find what you want," Dave pointed out, then turning to her and seeing her hesitation he paused. "Do you want me to go and you look around here?"

Lily very nearly agreed but a cold wind swept down the alley and fear at being back flooded her. "No, I'll come. Sooner I go, sooner I can get back, right?"

Dave smiled, "Right."

They entered Knockturn Alley and immediately people came out of the black shadows offering curses and potions, Lily clung to Dave tightly. He confidently led her to a small shop at the end of the row and Lily was surprised when she stepped in. It wasn't as bad as she'd imagined. In an attempt to cheer the place up, the walls were painted a light blue. Shelves were stocked with both normal magical items and the more curious ones found in this alley. There was no one on the shop floor so Dave rang a small bell on the counter.

A small woman dressed in a pale green robe came out from the back. "Yes?"

"Hi, we were wondering if you had anything that could help us with…" Dave began but Lily cut him off.

"I want a Defero Orb," she said quickly.

"A Defero Orb? But you can't use one of them," Dave said shocked.

The small woman looked at her curiously. "Why would you want one of them?"

"Do you have one or not?" Lily asked, avoiding the question.

"Yes," the woman said slowly. "But I don't think I should give it to you. Dangerous, they are."

"I know the risks," Lily answered shortly. "But believe me, the risks of not using one are a lot worse."

"But you're muggle-born. It increases the danger…" This was Dave telling her, not the shop clerk.

"I know!" She cried, annoyed that people were trying to stop her. "But please, it has to be done."

The woman nodded, seeing something in Lily's eyes, fear, despair, hope, pleading, she wasn't sure what it was but she sensed that this was important to her. She walked into the back of the shop to get the Orb.

While the woman was out back, Lily busied herself looking at the curiosities of the shop, avoiding Dave's attempts at trying to stop her. She picked up few potion ingredients and headed back to the counter, as soon as she reached there the woman arrived back.

"Here it is," she said holding it out in an open box for Lily to look at.

"That'll do nicely, thank you. I'll have these too thanks." Lily handed over the ingredients she'd selected and the money to pay for them.

"Alright, good luck dear, you'll need it."

Lily just smiled and nodded and left the shop, Dave trailing behind her.

"Lily," he said, grabbing the back of her coat to make her stop. "Are you really going to use that thing?"

"I bought it didn't I?" she asked, motioning for him to walk with her back to Diagon Alley.

"Yeah, I know, but…"

"But what?"

"Well, what if something happens. If something goes wrong the luckiest thing that could happen would be for it to kill you and you don't want that do you?"

"Don't I?" she asked, brushing a strand of her red hair from her face with a sigh. "Look Dave, I have no family willing to speak to me after what happened, you're my only friend and I'm stuck in a dead end job that, as great as it can be, the crap that comes with it is a lot worse than any enjoyment I get out of it. And to top it all off I'm being stalked by the spirit of a dead guy I never even met when he was alive.

"If I died today, you'd be the only one it would affect and I bet you'd get over it soon enough. At least this way I can try and help someone like I should have done before. And if I die trying then I'll get away from this spirit, whoever he was."

"Lily, what happened before…It wasn't your fault, there was nothing you could have done. Risking your life to help this spirit isn't going to change that."

"No," Lily agreed entering the cauldron shop. "But it'll help me. Don't you get it? I have to do this."

Dave nodded, "Alright, fine. I suppose you'll want your wand back?"

The question hit Lily hard. She'd been buying these magical items and it hadn't really registered but realising she'd be getting her wand back, fully entering the Magical World once more it scared her. She trembled slightly as she nodded. "Do you have it?"

Dave pulled it out of an inside pocket in his jacket. "Here, I kept it nice for you."

Slowly she took the wand from him, sparks flew from it the second her finger touched it. Her hand clasped around it and a familiar but forgotten sense of belonging and warmth spread through her. She smiled.

"Thank you," she pocketed the wand and grabbed a small cauldron, paid for it and stood back with Dave. "Up for some of that reminiscing you talked about?"

Dave laughed, "Sure thing. Florean's first?"

Lily grinned childishly. "You read my mind."

The two went to the ice cream parlour where they sat outside with their ice creams talking about the times they'd had and the people they'd met at Hogwarts. Dave told her what all their old friends were doing now, and some of their enemies. When they'd finished their ice creams, Lily dragged Dave around some of her old favourite shops. They continued to chat and Dave told her about some of the bog gossip and scandals she'd missed out on, including some about one of their own school co-pupils.

"You're kidding?" Lily asked stunned. "James Potter, in trouble with the Ministry? It doesn't really surprise me; he always was a prat and a fool. What did he do? Use one of his stupid pranks to blow up a section of the Ministry or something?"

Dave's face didn't smile at the humour in Lily's voice, he remained sombre. "No, they say he attacked someone, a young girl in her final year at Hogwarts. An interview with her was published in the Daily Prophet and the description she gave was James Potter alright, right down to the stupid windswept hair. And of course, Potter's gone missing, hasn't been seen since that night, which doesn't do much to prove his innocence."

Lily looked at Dave in shock. "I can't believe it."

Dave shrugged, "That's what I've heard. Anyway, we should be going, it's getting late."

"Yeah, right," Lily said. From then until they reached Lily's flat the conversation was rather dismal and easy going, ceasing when they reached the flat and Dave went home.

Lily fed Sooty before going to her room and unpacking the things she had bought that day. In the centre of her room she lit a small fire with her wand and placed the cauldron above its frame. She then put in some of the ingredients; frog eyes, fish tails, rat teeth, and added a little water to the mix. She stirred it with the handle of her wand before adding slug trail and spider legs. Once more she stirred the thick mixture until it turned a blood red colour. With it ready she took the cauldron of the handle and, with her other hand covered in a tea towel, steadied the cauldron so that she could pour the mixture into a circle on the floor. The circle was large enough for a person to stand in and in its centre Lily placed the Defero Orb. She pricked her finger with a knife and let a drop of blood fall onto the Orb.

It shimmered and, seeing it as the right time, Lily pointed at the Orb with her wand and said, "Ostendestri." The Orb shimmered and glowed, a mist filled the room, swirling around Lily, filling her nostrils her mouth, she couldn't breathe. She began to choke on the dense mist that surrounded her and then, just when she was about to give in, it vanished and in the centre of the circle stood the man with long blonde hair and clear blue eyes. He was taller than Lily by a few inches and well built. If he was alive, he would probably be the kind of person Lily would imagine being with and marrying, having a family with and growing old together. She took a gulp of air.

"Who are you? What do you want from me?" she asked the figure, for he was not really solid to be considered a man, but nor did he have the same almost clear quality that the ghosts of Hogwarts had.

"My name is Lee Morris, or at least, it was. I need your help Lily."

Lily looked at him startled. "How do you know my name?"

"I know everything about you, that's why I picked you."

"To do what? I don't understand what I can do."

"You witnessed my death; I need you to go visit my wife. She saw it too but she can't move on from it. I need her to; I need her to carry on with her life. You, you can help her."

"How?"

"You were there; you already have a connection with her. You witnessed people you loved die and know the helplessness a person feels when they realise there's nothing they can do to stop it. I just need you to help her, make sure she gets on with her life so that I can move one too."

"Why don't you just talk to her? Like you did to me. Follow her until she thinks she's going crazy and then talk to her yourself."

The figure sighed sadly. "I've tried Lily. She is grieving too much, I can't get through."

"What makes me so special then? Why can you 'get through' to me?"

"Because," he said with great effort. "You feel loss and guilt in epic proportions, but you do not let it drag you down. You carry on and you battle, but you are aware of what has happened and what is happening. You're special Lily."

Lily looked at him, he seemed to be fading; the spell was ending.

"Get in the Orb," Lily cried at him.

"I…ca…can't," Lee stammered. "I've used too…too much energy…"

Once again Lily pointed her wand at the Orb. "Sinovado!" she commanded the Orb.

It shimmered and Lee's figure was sucked into the Orb in an almost comic-like fashion. His legs became squashed together as they were drawn into the round glass ball, then his waist, his chest, his shoulders, his neck and finally his head. His eyes bulged out at the strain of such squeezing. When he was all in Lily picked up the Orb and brought it to her face. Lee could be seen inside through the clear glass.

"You'll be safe in there," she told him. "And tomorrow we shall set off to visit your wife. First, I must sleep and make sure Dave can look after Sooty, but I'll do that in the morning."

She placed the Defero Orb onto her bedside stand and went into the kitchen to make herself something to eat. She and Sooty watched a little television before Lily went to bed at around 11 o'clock. For the first time in what felt like an age, Lily slept the whole night through uninterrupted.