Title: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)

Author: Arista Ramabra

Rating: T

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

VERY, VERY IMPORTANT A/N: Whew! Ok this is IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ ALL OF IT. Here is a brief overview of my plans for this story. It is going to be divided into 5 segments/ parts of 6 chapters each (give or take a few) so the story is (thus far) scheduled for about 30 chapters. I'm going to re-do the entire chapters/titles thing so that each specifies the segment/ part, the title of it, and then the title of the chapter.

The first 6 chapters are the introductory chapters- introducing the plot, characters, themes and all that jazz. That's why there hasn't been much activity since perhaps the 2nd- but I'll assure you that things start back up at around chapter 6- that's the next one.

I have made some big changes such as in setting and added characters (well they were in the original plot but I edited them out and now they're back in) I DO HOPE YOU READ AT LEAST THE WHOLE OF THIS AUTHOR NOTE BECAUSE IT SAYS A LOT THAT MY READERS NEED TO KNOW.

Arista

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Recap of Chapter 4: Lily rants about 'stupid men', James tells his father what happened at the café, and Lily receives an urgent call from her younger brother regarding her sister.

Chapter 5- Solutions

James, yanking open the door, had been quite surprised, really, to see the person that'd knocked on his door. There was a tall figure standing at his door, suitcase in hand, clothed in a black robe with the hood up. James looked the character up and down taking in the blackness. The color of black on her was unmistakable; black suitcase, black robe, black heels, and he could make nothing out of the face of this woman- it had to be a woman, for who else would wear heels?- except shadows. He shuddered, involuntarily and took a step back. He had no idea who this woman was. He was about to ask what she wanted when he caught sight of something gleaming on her eyebrow, and then several 'somethings' on her ear. Realization dawned on him.

"Lor?" he called softly into the darkness, wondering if his eyes had deceived him. But no. 'Lor' replied.

"James?" For once in his life he heard her hesitate. She was always so strong, holding herself up with determination and pride caring nothing about what people said or thought about her.

He stepped out, looking closely at the so familiar face. "Lor? What happened? Why are you here?"

"Can we talk inside?" she asked quietly. James was flustered. He hurriedly apologized for not inviting her in and reached out to take the suitcase clutched in Lor's hands. He shut the door behind him, placing the suitcase in the living room. She followed him in, meekly, still not letting down her hood. He told her to sit on one of the couches and hurriedly poked his father in the back.

"Ron!" he hissed. "Look who's here! Get up!" Aaron put up his head, sighing. He blinked, rubbing his eyes.

"Who, James?" he asked tiredly. James moved aside, revealing Lor. Aaron stared at her for a few before he realized who it was. His eyes wide, "Loranda?" he whispered.

Loranda slowly lowered her hood, revealing long blond hair with natural dark streaks and brilliant blue eyes. She still wore glasses and had a piercing on her left eyebrow, 3 on her left ear and four on her right. She had on dark eyeliner that was smeared over her almond shaped eyes as if she'd been crying, and she had on a very light layer of black eye shadow. James and his father couldn't take their eyes off her, having been rendered speechless.

James found his voice first. "Lor? What happened to you?" he asked, hoarsely.

Loranda looked down. "They found my family. They murdered them," she whispered fiercely.

James found himself speechless once more. "Why?" he moaned, sinking into the couch beside his father.

Loranda looked down. "I don't know! Because we didn't help them!" she spat, spitefully.

"You're no different from the rest of us!" cried James, defensively, sitting up straight. "You just decided that you weren't going to help him kill muggle-borns!"

Lor hung her head solemnly. "I was out with Logan. We survived. Logan went to his friend's house. We wanted to split apart so we wouldn't be found." She stopped, unsure of how to address the question she wanted to ask.

James sat back, noticing her hesitation. There was silence for a moment. "How long do you need to stay here?" James asked, finally.

Loranda shrugged. "It's just until I find work to get my own place. I'm sorry to cause any inconvenience but…"

"No… it's ok… I just… I might be getting married sometime soon that's all…" James said, looking anywhere but Lor's eyes. Lor looked at him, her face emotionless.

"Well… advanced congratulations, then."

"You can stay here however long you want and you are welcome back here as long as this house is in our custody," said Aaron, finally opening his mouth. "James, call Kari and ask her to prepare a bedroom for Lorwen."

Lily awoke the next morning, her mind filled with all the problems that she had in her current life. She groaned, wanting to bury herself deeper into her pillow, but she dragged her feet out of bed anyway knowing that she's have to face her father and Mr. Potter sometime in that day. She walked into the bathroom, flipping on the switch, and looked at herself in the mirror: pale, creamy white skin, auburn hair falling from her loose ponytail, emerald eyes filled with weariness. She splashed some cold water onto her face, hurrying to the kitchen. Her stomach grumbled as she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous afternoon. She found her family in the kitchen, untouched breakfast in front of them- well everyone except Petunia. She pulled up a chair beside her brother and sat down.

"Hey everyone. Good morning."

"Good morning," replied Steve, a little dully.

"Mornin' Lily," replied Evelyn in a small voice. Mr. Evans nodded at Lily. And Petunia ignored her.

Lily sighed. This much she'd expected. "I need to talk to you all before I go to work," she stated, sarcastically complimenting herself for breaking the ice in her mind.

"About what?" asked a very small sounding Evelyn.

"You, Mother, Dad, 'Tunia," answered Steve, impassively.

"Eve, why?" Lily asked her sister gently.

Evelyn hung her head. "I didn't mean for it to happen. It just did. And I don't wanna abort it!" she suddenly wailed, sobbing hard. Lily looked away.

"You don't have to, Eve," Lily replied, softly. She waited for her to quiet down, deciding to tackle her father before going back to Evelyn.

"But dad says she has to!" cried Petunia.

"Dad?" she called hesitantly. He grunted to show he was listening.

"Why? Just let her have the kid… it's hers!" cried Steve before Lily had a chance to speak.

"Shh!" said Lily, "Dad… please… it's her child. Let her decide," she explained patiently.

"Where will we go for the money for this kid, huh?" asked Petunia, a little harshly. "Dad and Steve along with Mum's part-time job are just barely enough for Evelyn's education, my marriage, and providing for the family. And you have enough money just to take care of your apartment and your life. We can't provide for her child too! Where will we go for the hospital care charges and other things?"

But before Steve or Lily could retaliate, Mr. Evans stepped in. "We'll talk about this another time."

Lily looked down and then up at her father again, finally deciding to speak.

"I know that this is too much for you to hear in one day but I must tell you. And everyone else," she looked around the table. "I received a marriage proposal yesterday."

The entire room turned quiet, even Petunia dropped her fork in shock. Her father turned to look at her.

"What?" he whispered hoarsely.

"Someone… from… work… proposed to me," she replied, making a split-second decision not to tell them about the deal just as yet.

"Are you going to accept?" Petunia asked, a bit snobbishly, but genuine curiosity lined her voice.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "But I just thought I'd warn you… you know? So if I do accept it, it won't come as huge shock…" Once more she was answered by silence. The only sound was Evelyn sniffling, her sobs having ceased.

Lily walked to the cupboard and pulled out a glass and filling it with water from the sink she addressed Evelyn, her attention having riveted back to her.

"Eve, do you know who the father is?" she asked, gulping down some water.

Evelyn nodded. "His name is… Daray. Daray Willis." Lily chocked and spat out most of the water in her mouth on the floor. She banged herself on the chest before gasping out, "What?"

Everyone in the kitchen looked at her weirdly. "Daray Willis," Evelyn repeated, slowly.

Lily's eyes widened. The once slightly chilly room turned burning hot and small beads of perspiration appeared on her forehead. Her hands began to tremble. She hastily set the glass on the counter, splashing water on herself. She fumbled around her jeans for her wand and finding it she grasped it tightly.

"I have to go," she said quickly and apparated back to her house where she took a cold shower before hurrying to the auror HQ.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

Lily rushed down the hallways of the ministry wanting to have a word with Mr. Potter privately before most people came to work. As she darted down corridor after corridor, floor after floor she never noticed the bewildered looks people were giving her, nor the two silent figures following her. It was just as she stopped outside Mr. Potter's office, trying to catch her breath that the two figures caught up to her, also panting heavily.

"Gosh, Lily! You need to slow down!" one of them cried, leaning against the wall for support. Lily, startled, jumped, whirling around, causing her heart rate to speed up once again. On seeing one of her best friends, Jenna, she sighed.

"You scared me half to death there," she panted. Gordo, her other best friend rolled his eyes, a bit more fit than the other two he'd not had that much trouble running trough the ministry.

"So what's the big hurry?" he inquired. "Everyone's been staring at you like you've grown an extra head or two," he tried to joke. Lily just glared at him. "Excuse us if some of us actually do work at our jobs instead of trying to get people of the opposite sex to look at us," she replied sarcastically, trying the handle of the door only to find it locked.

Gordo threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, fine… I was merely curious as to why you were try a door, firstly of one of the Heads, with out knocking, especially when it says DO NOT DISTURB." Lily looked up and finding that it was indeed true she colored slightly. But trying to preserve some of her dignity she said, "Well, I'm allowed to enter his room with out knocking for he asked me to marry his son," although she didn't entirely mean to break it to her friends so abruptly. They were rendered silent.

Jenna found her voice first. "WHAT!" she cried. "When?"

Lily looked away. "Uh… yesterday? Morning?" Jenna put her hands on her hips.

"And why didn't I hear about it until now?" she demanded.

"Heh… oops?" Lily said. "I'll tell you the whole story after I've had a word with Mr. Potter ok?" she promised but Jenna would not hear of it.

"Now. And that's final," she stated and proceeded to drag Lily and Gordo to the elevators and out to a café opposite the ministry.

-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-

"Ok spill," Jenna demanded, as soon as they'd sat down in the table farthest from the door, with their steaming cups of coffee.

"Well… there's nothing to say, really…" Gordo sensed that she was hesitant and said soothingly, "Go on, Lil. Tell us. We'll help in any way possible ok?" Inwardly he grimaced for sounding so caring. He prided himself on his sarcasm and impassiveness, the way he could tell horror stories with a seemingly uncaring attitude.

"Well… OK…" And Lily started on her tale. She talked of Potters and how Mr. Potter had cried about the broken promise, and the proposition that Mr. Potter had for her, and then how he'd had her go and visit James, and the deal, and how she'd slapped James and how much she hated him. By the end of the hour long rant Gordo was almost regretting persuading Lilly to tell her story. Massaging his temples he signaled the waiter and ordered another cup of coffee.

"Wow… That's quite a lot to happen to you in one day," Jenna remarked, thoughtfully. "And by the look on your face more happened." Lily blushed as Gordo incredulously mouthed, "More!"

And so that was how Gordo and Jenna came to know of Evelyn and her mother, and how Daray came to play a role in her life, yet again.

After Lily finished, Jenna remarked, "Hmm… Interesting…"

Lily looked up at her, from her coffee. "What are you thinking Jen?"

"Well…" Jenna stirred her coffee, idly. "Are you going to accept it?" Before Lily could answer, Gordo cut it.

"No. Absolutely not!"

"And why not?" Jenna asked impatiently.

"Because." He stated, gesturing furiously with his eyes.

"Because?" she asked, irritated.

"Because of reasons that I can't speak in here!" he hissed, finally loosing his patience.

"Oh." Jenna glumly sat back in her chair.

"What are you thinking, Jen?" Lily asked yet again.

"Well… you need to solve the problem of Evelyn right?" Lily nodded, having no idea where this was going. But Gordo, once more interrupted, guessing where this was going.

"You want her to use the Potters? Their money? Fine… that'll work for a year. After that where will Lily go for the funding?" Gordo spat angrily.

"Who said that James was only going to stay with her for a year? Lily might be able to get him to change his mind!" Jenna cried in Lily's defense.

"I know James Potter and he is NOT one to go against his pride and since he has stated that he won't like married life, he'll make sure he won't even if he truly does!" Gordo roared.

Jenna cowered from the sound of Gordo's voice. "Let Lily decide," she said meekly.

Gordo sighed, taking a long sip of coffee. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my cool like that."

Jenna shrugged. "I brought it upon myself. SO what do you think Lily? You haven't said anything?"

She seemed to ponder for a moment. "I'll sleep on it," she finally replied. And with a few parting words, the three left the café, Gordo and Jenna leaving extra generous tips for any inconvenience they might have caused by their yelling, Lily deep in thought, all three determined to make the rest of their day a very calm one, without much depression.