Author's Note: Hello! I'm a tiny bit late this week. I will continue to do my best to shoot for Wednesdays, but the next few weeks are looking pretty busy for me, so it may not always happen. Good news is that chapters are written, its just a matter of editing and posting.
Thanks again to those that have read, given kudos and reviewed Chapters 1-3! Hope you enjoy Chapter 4!

Notes at end for triggers; moving forward, these will be very spoilery in nature as the content will be getting more sensitive. Please take care of your own mental health first and foremost!


Chapter 4

"We have one goal. To do what is right. So you tell the truth and you tell the whole truth. No matter what happens. No matter who gets hurt," Olivia Pope, Scandal

Now: Lily

The knock at Lily's door around 2 AM didn't startle her. She hadn't slept, not really. Dozed here and there, but mostly, she had been awake, staring at the blank notebook page in front of her, devising a strategy that would not come.

So when the knock came, she merely heaved a sigh and made her way to the door.

"I'm handing in my resignation immediately," a forlorn looking Dung said in the way of greeting.

"Dung—"

"You pay me to ensure these exact types of things do not happen, and here we are with the scandal in our own house, and—"

"Dung—" Lily tried again, speaking a little louder.

"I've been digging all night, pulled enough of a file on Myles that there were red flags everywhere, boss, I should have vetted him so much more thoroughly, but you said you were good and—"

"Mundungus Fletcher!" Lily finally called out, breaking Dung's rant. "You are not resigning. That does me absolutely no good. And Carter is not your responsibility. It's my name on the door, not yours. If I let someone in, and it blows up, that's on me," Lily said, repeating the same mantra she had berated herself with for hours and hours already.

Dung sighed, the fight leaking out of him.

"Do you want to know how he got away with it?" Dung asked, walking over to the bar cart in Lily's living room, pouring himself a vodka, and then taking a seat on her white couch.

"I'm assuming the Carter vs Anthony identities had something to do with it," Lily ventured, pouring herself a few fingers of vodka as well and tossing it back in one gulp, the liquor burning on the way down. Good, she thought. At least she wasn't numb yet.

"Bingo," Dung said. "You met him in the muggle world, where he went by Carter. With the wife, he was Anthony, met her while doing undercover work for us a few years back, the Severs case, I believe. She hadn't been appointed to Wizengamot yet and had been a prosecutor on that case. It's his given name, but hasn't used it officially since moving to the UK. All the paperwork he gave us had Carter, but he has a few special licenses, passports, etc, with Anthony. Did you know he used a second name for his work?"

Lily shook her head. "I trusted him," she said simply.

Dung shook his head and sighed heavily again. "I have to ask, boss. It's not my place, but I'm going to anyway. Did you know about her?"

Lily stood, moved back to the bar cart and poured another double of vodka, tossing it back again. She'd feel it soon; she hadn't had food, hadn't been able to stomach the idea of dinner after the late edition Prophet came out, but if she was going to have this conversation, she needed something to give her liquid courage.

"I didn't know they were married," Lily said. "He told me he had an ex-wife, back in America—"

"He does," Dung interrupted darkly.

"But I didn't know he had married Sarah. I thought they were sort of on and off, and we saw each other in between. You have to believe me, if I had known he married her—"

"I do, boss," Dung assured. "But that doesn't change the fact that we're fucked."

Lily put her head in her hands, breathed in deeply, and then exhaled.

"We are never fucked. We are never out of options, not completely. Call the team, minus Carter, obviously, and meet me in the office at 7."

"You have a plan?" Dung asked, eye her curiously.

"No," Lily said. "I'm hiring LE & A. I'm your new client. I'm the scandal—you have to fix me."


Despite still feeling the vodka in her system slightly, Lily could not bring herself to skip her morning run. So at 4:45, she forced herself off her couch and into a matching black workout set, threw on her trainers, and put her hair up in a quick ponytail.

Knowing she'd need to move quickly from the gym to work, she threw together a quick bag of what she'd need to shower and make herself presentable in the Auror gym locker room so she could leave immediately from her workout to get to work; when she had left yesterday, her caseloads had been overflowing, and now, more than ever, she longed to lose herself in her client's problems.

That is, if they were still her clients and hadn't already owled to sack her.

Pushing that thought out of her mind, she grabbed an oversized grey crew neck, big enough that it slipped off one shoulder, and made her way out of the apparition wards, gave a quick look around, and then apparated to the ministry.

She was not surprised to see Potter was already waiting, and if he was surprised to see she had still come, despite her personal and professional life teetering on the brink of disaster, he masked it well.

"Morning, Evans" He said, and Lily felt her heart jolt for just a second, taking in his sleepy expression. He looked just as she remembered him, all those mornings they had woken up together, snuggled up in his bed at the Hogwarts dorms, in the hole in the wall apartment they had shared with Sirius during the war, and then finally, the cottage they had planned to start their married life in.

Nostalgia was one hell of a bitch, she couldn't help but think.

"You doing okay this morning?" James inquired, trying to keep his tone light, but Lily saw right through it.

"Never been better," Lily said, her tone sharp. "Moody will be fine. If I were working for Mulciber and Malfoy and their cronies, I would have told them it was a mistake to release both stories at once. Sex scandals sell way better than tragedies. The Moody story will get buried in the fall out of the Myles marriage and—"

"I asked if you are doing okay," James said, shooting her a look, raising one brow. "I know you'll take care of Moody. Are you taking care of you?"

"I'll be fine," Lily said, and she used her sternest tone to encourage him to drop the subject. "My team is on it. It's being handled."

James didn't answer, but merely punched in a six digit code, allowing them entrance into the gym. When they had been together, Lily had used these facilities often, with James sneaking her in before or after hours, much like he was now. While it wasn't strictly forbidden, it wasn't exactly encouraged.

Without further conversation, the two split to put their things in the locker rooms, and met up again after. James made his way over to the weight stations, while Lily opted for the running machines, which were essentially muggle treadmills. As she did a few quick stretches, she discarded her sweatshirt, leaving her in just her running bra, and quickly got started, hoping to push herself to the point where her mind would leave behind the day's upcoming problems temporarily and allow her to enter that blank space where she stopped thinking about anything other than the scenery before her.

And what a scenery it was.

With James well within her eye sight, she could not help but take in his muscled form, as he had opted for loose shorts and a cut off t-shirt, revealing the planes of his abdomen along with his well-toned arms. As his workout continued, the sweatier he got, causing him to glisten in the gym light, and occasionally pause to take a drink of water, a few drops cascading down his jaw and throat, forcing her eye to follow the way his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed.

Watching him focus, laser-like, on his objective, body taut and toned, had Lily grabbing for her own water more than usual, and forced her to push her own pace faster than usual as a way of attempting to exhaust herself into a zen-like place where James Potter and his perfect arse (did he really need to do his weighted squats, right there, in front of her?) would cease to exist. But, these plans were foiled as the gym became more crowded and she found herself distracted, watching as he gave a confident head nod at some of the other aurors from his department, but remained set on his task; a man on a mission, and a side of James that Lily had always found attractive, whether that had been in his capacity as Quidditch captain, Head Boy, soldier, or making her come. Not that she was thinking about coming right now. Because she definitely was not.

Cursing herself, because after all, she had enough male-related issues at the moment, thank you very much, she forced herself to look directly at the machine's screen for her last mile, and when she wrapped up the last of her five miles, her legs were absolute jelly.

Tossing back the last of her water, she grabbed her sweatshirt and made her way to James.

"I'm going to go freshen up in the locker room, then head to work. Thank you so much for letting me work out here," she said, shooting him a quick smile, but unable to stop herself checking out the bulge of his bicep, briefly allowing her mind to image those same biceps holding her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist and –

"It was my pleasure," James said, giving her a small smirk like he knew exactly what she was thinking about. "Same time tomorrow?"

"Works for me," Lily said, shrugging casually.

"I'm sure it does," James said, smirk growing. "You seemed quite inspired this morning."

Lily nearly choked on the sip of water she had just taken and met his eye. "Not sure what you mean, Potter."

James crossed his arms and gave her a half shrug. "Might have been my imagination, but seemed as though you had a lot of excess energy to burn off. You know I could always help with that in other ways, too."

"Now I'm positive I don't know what you mean," Lily said, but could feel the heat rising on her face.

James laughed, but gave her a warm smile. "I think you definitely do. But I'll be a gentleman and leave it at that. See you tomorrow. And Lil?"

"Hmm?" Lily asked, meeting his eye.

"I was very inspired this morning, too."

Giving him a quick wave and eye roll, Lily turned her back made her way to the locker room. She promptly took a cold shower that had very little to do with the physical exertion from her run.


Thirty minutes later found Lily dressed and ready to head to the office. Today she had opted for a just barely oversized white fitted button down, dove grey pencil skirt that hit just above the knee with a slit in the back, navy pumps, and, had decided to assuage her ego just a bit by fastening on her white gold Rolex, fitted with no less than 40 diamonds on the face and band that had cost approximately the same as her sister Petunia's custom Land Rover that Vernon had bragged about endlessly at Christmas. It had been one of her fist major indulgent purchases she had spoiled herself with upon "making it" as the public relations and crisis manager for the wizarding elite, and a good reminder, today especially, that no matter the outcome, she had rebuilt her life once before, and she would do it again if need be.

Throwing on her trench that perfectly matched her skirt, she fluffed her hair, which she had styled in loose waves again today, put on her red lipstick, and made her way out the door, quickly apparating to the office by 6:30.

She was unsurprised to see most of the team was there already, but highly displeased to see the last face she wanted to see at the moment.

"Flower," came Carter's voice almost as soon as she had made her way into the office. She looked him over, and for once, he looked terrible.

Well, as terrible as he could look, but still.

His appearance was rumpled, eyes slightly bloodshot, and his usual swagger utterly deflated.

"What's he doing here?" Lily said, choosing not to acknowledge him yet, but instead addressing Audra who was on her feet, arms crossed. Lily noticed Audra had her wand in one hand and had probably been ready to hex him if necessary.

"He was here when we got here," Audra answered, her eyes narrowing at Carter. "I think he slept here. Probably couldn't go home the two-timing—"

"I came right here and waited for you, Flower," Carter said again. "I need to explain, please," he pleaded, voice desperate.

"You need to leave," Audra said, tone firm.

"I'll go, I swear, just give me five minutes," Carter tried again, eyes never leaving Lily. "Flower.."

"Go to my office," Lily said, but refused to make eye contact with him. As she heard him murmur a quick "thank you," she kept her attention on Audra. "Set a timer for five minutes. Knock on the door when it goes off."

"Lil-" Audra started, but Lily shook her head.

"The quicker I give him his moment, the quicker we get rid of him," she replied, shrugging.

"Is he fired?" Audra asked, and her face very much gave away her opinion of what needed to happen.

"Probably," Lily said. "But quite frankly, we may all be out a job before the end of the week" she said, turning on her heel and throwing a casual, "Five minutes," back over her shoulder before entering her office, closing the door, and then removing her jacket and bag, setting each in its proper place. She then sat at her desk, and then finally, finally, made eye contact with Carter.

"It isn't what you think," he started, and he paused, waiting to see if Lily would interrupt him. When she continued to sit in silence, he continued on. "Sarah and I did get married, but you and I were not together at the time. I won't deny that I was seeing you both simultaneously at times, but nothing was set in stone with either relationship."

"But set in stone enough that you married her, so the relationship was serious enough with her that you proposed and she said yes. That you planned a whole wedding—" Lily cut in, voice icy even to her own ears.

"We eloped, a few months ago. Sarah's pregnant and with her career, she needed me to step up and do the right thing. She wanted to avoid a scandal—"

At this, Lily barked out a dry laugh, shaking her head, but Carter barreled on.

"And I weighed my options and agreed it was the best course of action. But things have been horrible, just horrible since we married and—"

"And you decided to use me to make yourself feel better. You made me into a mistress without my consent while you had a pregnant wife at home," Lily said, voice threatening to spill into yelling, but she held back at the last second, holding her fury at bay.

"You knew I was seeing her," Carter said, giving her a sharp look. "You knew, when we were together, I had someone else, and it never bothered you—"

"Don't you put this on me," Lily said, and she could feel herself losing control, barely able to hold on the composure she prided herself on, had forced herself to learn over the past four years. "It was one thing when it was seeing both of us casually, from time to time. But you owed it to her and your child to break it off with me when you made that commitment. And if you had any respect for me, in any capacity—as your boss, your friend, your fuck buddy—you should have mentioned, even in passing, that you were getting married, especially to a fucking Wizengamot judge, Carter!"

"I know," Carter said, and he hung his head low for a moment. "But we can fix this. It's what we do. You and I, together—"

"There is no more you and I, Carter," Lily said quietly, forcing her voice to withhold emotion.

"You can't be serious," Carter argued. "You need me. Half of what you've accomplished, you wouldn't have done if I wasn't here, too, and—"

Lily stood, and opened the door, moving so there would be enough space for him to exit. "You are fired, Carter. Done. Get out."

"Flower—" He tried again, but Lily didn't allow him.

"I am not your Flower. I am not your lover. I am no longer your friend, and as of—" she checked her watch—"6:48 this morning, I am not your boss. I am now your enemy, do you understand me? You think I wouldn't have everything I have now without you? You are about to find out exactly what I am capable of. Now go home to your wife and beg for her forgiveness. We are done here."

Carter gave her one last look, and Lily's instincts told her this was far, far from over, but his five minutes were up, and she gave Audra a quick nod, silently communicating to the other woman to ensure he left the premises, immediately, and then made her way to the conference room, where the rest of her team was waiting.

"Well?" Adella asked, looking up at her from the table.

"We destroy him," Lily said, so casually she might have been discussing the weather. "I want every ounce of dirt you have, Dung, an interview with the American ex-wife, plus we get to Sarah, see if we can pull her on our side, and for Christ's sake, call in every favor we have with anyone who matters. When we are done, he will leave the UK and need another new identity," she paused for a second, seeing her team taking rapid notes, gathering papers from Dung's file. At her pause, they stilled, giving her their undivided attention.

"I want to be clear: I am not a jealous, scorned, ex-lover. I am not a poor woman in need to pitying because she was duped by a man. I am Lily fucking Evans, and he came for me and my business. Handle it. Now."

Adella gave a quick nod and she and Dung promptly left the room, leaving Lily with Harper, and moments later, Audra with a few files from other client.

"What's next?" Lily said, taking the file, and the matter was done.


The days that followed were precarious. Lily and her team were ready for any and all fall out, knowing it would be impossible for them to not find themselves at the center of the hurricane as the press continued to swarm. So they worked themselves to the bone, going above and beyond for each and every client on their roster, giving statements, and implementing Lily's plan. Three other women had come forward as having had an affair with Carter, and when the American ex-wife confirmed his infidelity in their marriage, too, Lily had felt like she might just win this thing after all.

She knew it was naïve of her to think she'd make it out without losing a single client, and by the end of the week, she had definitely had some major ones opt to leave, with a few more warning her they were looking in other directions but would be willing to give her time to see how everything sorted itself.

She had several that had immediately called in their support, reminding Lily that she had literally saved their asses multiple times and the least they could do was stand by her now.

Harper had run the numbers for her, no less than five times, and even if everyone on the fence did make moves to leave, they'd be able to keep their doors open and lights on. But they were definitely taking a massive hit, and desperately needed some good press.

"I don't think there's any way around it," Harper had said on a Thursday evening as the team had gathered in the conference room, eating take-out Chinese. "You need to go on the Moody plan."

Lily rolled her eyes. "The Moody plan?"

"You're a war hero, too, Lil," the younger girl said. "Plus look at you—gorgeous, successful, articulate. Yet you rarely do press for yourself, meaning you are kind of an enigma. Give the press an opportunity to see you, the woman behind the PR machine—"

"No way," Lily said. "And open up the door for them to grill me about my personal affairs? Are you mad?"

"I like it," Dung said, stuffing a piece of broccoli in his mouth. "We're already controlling the press at the panel for Moody's sake, so we can easily throw in an easy question or two for you, too. Give them a few statement that will charm them—"

"Plus a reason to write about you without bringing up Carter—" Adella added.

"And it would show some goodwill to the press. We have a great relationship with most of the major papers," Harper said. "This would show them that you aren't hiding, you're still open for business, and you want to work with them."

"Thanks, I hate it," Lily said, rolling her eyes and taking a bite of lo mein.

"Would you make a client do it?" Audra asked, looking at her knowingly.

"That's different. I am not the story. I'm never the story—" Lily started, but Adella cut her off.

"Except you are now. You are the client. Our client," she said, motioning around the table to the rest of LE & A. "You're doing the panel."

"But—" Lily started, but she was once again cut off.

"She should wear color," Dung added, ignoring her protest. "She's never wears anything cheerful. She needs to wear color."

Every set of eyes assessed Lily, who was in a black sheath dress and white silk blazer.

"Do you own color?" Harper asked, raising a brow.

"Yes—"

"I'll pick you something up," Adella said. "Just to be safe."

"I haven't agreed—"

"Pale pink would look good," Audra said, continuing to ignore her. "Or blue."

"I like a soft sage green," Dung said, and all the women looked at him again. "What? It would look nice."


Friday of the following week found Lily in a square neck sage green dress with thick straps that clung to her curves enough to highlight her figure without being overly sexy and ended just above her knee. Her hair had been styled back in a fashionable matching floral headband at Dung's suggestion, who for reasons none of the women could understand, was weirdly good at styling outfits and had many opinions on Lily's appearance.

She felt very unlike herself, far too girl-next-door than she preferred to dress, but couldn't deny the team had been right. If one of the goals was to use this panel to change Lily's image in the press as a home wrecking seductress, this was the better option.

As she walked up to the swanky hotel that was hosting the panel and would also hold the gala on Saturday as part of the War Memorial Society's commemoration, she took a deep breath and reminded herself, yet again, that she was okay.

The story was slowly starting to lose steam, especially as more and more of Carter's less than stellar past came out. While there had been a few hit pieces on Lily by some tabloids, they were poor enough in reputation that they weren't really gaining traction, and she had only lost one more client in the past week.

Things were looking up.

And speaking of looking up…

"Evans!" came James' cheerful call as he sauntered up with Moody, both dressed neatly and stylishly. "Did my eyes deceive me? Are you actually on this panel, too?"

Lily gave him a quick smile, and a hug to Moody, and then nodded. "I am. My team thought it was a good idea—"

"Good," Moody said gruffly. "If I have to do this, then you both will do it, too."

"Both?" Lily said, confused, looking between Moody and James. "I know why we're doing this," she said, motioning to herself and Moody, "but how did they rope you into this, Potter?"

"Does he ever miss an opportunity to talk about how wonderful he is?" came the familiar voice of Sirius Black, coming up behind the two men with Emma Vance, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew in tow. "Always a pleasure when our paths cross, Evans" he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and moving so she could greet the rest of the group.

Lily felt self-conscious for just a moment, as these had been her friends, too, once upon a time, but James had "got" them in the break-up. Lily had maintained other friendships, such as Marlene McKinnon and Dorcas Meadows, but over time, had even distanced herself a bit from them, as work had become all consuming; she and Marlene had spent more time together doing working lunches in the past year than actually socializing. However, seeing James' mates was a quick reminder of everything she had said goodbye to when the pair had split.

"Are you all sitting on as well?" Lily asked after having politely greeted each of them.

"Nah," Peter said. "Just here for moral support. Thought it would be fun to get as much of the old gang back together as possible. We've all scattered since the old days, so when invitations went out for the events for the weekend, I wrote letters to as many of The Order as I could, encouraging them to come. Thought we'd make a reunion of it."

Lily smiled; Peter had always felt best about himself as part of the group, whether it was as a "Marauder" in school or The Order after. It was sweet that he still felt that same allegiance.

"I wrote to your office," Peter said quickly, "but didn't hear back, so I wasn't sure if you'd officially be around. James said you'd probably be here for Moody today, at least."

"Any chance we can talk you into the gala tomorrow, Lily?" Emma said, shooting a quick look back and forth between Lily and James. "James bought a table and I happen to know we have an extra seat…"

James cleared his throat. "I'm sure Evans has plans—"

"Do you? Have plans?" Remus asked. "I mean, we don't want to assume she's busy, and then she's sitting at home Saturday, while James pines next to an empty seat—"

"It would be a tragedy," Sirius said, looking at Lily seriously. "You would really be doing all of us a favor."

"Merlin," Moody barked out. "How did we win a war with this as our team?"

"I'm inclined to agree," Lily said, nerves rising. "Shall we?" she addressed Moody and James, giving the others a friendly smile. "I'll get back to you about the gala," she said, and moved with the other two to the stage.

Lily settled herself on one side of Moody, with Amelia Bones on the other. She was also greeted by the Prewett twins, Deadalus Diggle, and a few other familiar faces, including Dumbledore, who gave her a squeeze on her shoulder and a warm smile. All in all, about ten of them were on the stage, ranging in age and years served to the cause.

The moderator, who Lily had personally ensured got the gig, was Phin Megs, a reporter Lily knew and trusted, and who had just done a phenomenal piece on Moody earlier in the week to help combat the story regarding the Longbottoms. Her other sources at his paper told her the story had made Megs his editor's favorite of the week, and this made Lily very optimistic that he'd be favorable to Lily and more importantly, Moody, which was, after all, the goal of this whole endeavor.

There was a full press box, both friendly and less than friendly faces, but as Lily took a mental tally, more were favorable to her than not, which also boded well. There were also many audience members, both former Order members brought together likely due to Peter's urging, as well as others who simply had an interest in the panel.

Things started out easy enough, with many questions going to Dumbledore, naturally, but several strategy questions coming Moody's way, which he answered with poise and ease, as Lily had coached him. She had just given him a friendly nudge in the ribs to congratulate him when Megs asked a question to the group that sent a little chill down her spine.

"I'd like to ask about specific incident, if I could? The Battle of the Galloway?" Megs brought to the group. "That was a real low point in the war, a time when it really looked as though the other side might win. Many casualties to our side and several captures, including over dozen young women by Death Eaters. Any of you care to speak?"

Lily could feel her heart pounding, a slight heat coming to her face. It's fine, she told herself. It's fine. No one will say anything. No one up here knows but James and Moody-

"That one was a tough one," Gideon Prewett started, voice a bit haunted. "It was a real horror, from start to finish. We were called in, but it was an ambush. Eventually, we realized there was no winning and we had to just triage, get out as many people as we could, but as you know, we had to leave too many behind."

"I remember coming in after it was over to recover our dead and wounded," Amelia said next to Lily. "I was immediately concerned that it was only men and older women left behind. "It was all young women that were gone. It didn't sit right with me. There were quite a few we still don't know the whereabouts of," she finished, her eyes glazing over.

"Most of the ones we did rescue had really heavy memory charms placed on them," Gideon continued. "So it's one of those terrible incidents in war where you never know the truth. That one still haunts me."

Lily allowed herself to close her eyes for just a moment, swallowing hard, but unable to block out her heartbeat, pounding in her ears. Against her will, flashes of that night came to her mind, the explosion of curses and screaming, James' urging her to run when it was clear a retreat was needed, someone grabbing her right before she reached the place where she might apparate out, and then darkness, nothing but darkness, until there wasn't, but then she had wished for the darkness instead….

"Were any of the rest of you there?" Megs asked the group, sensitively.

"I was," James said, quickly. "I was also at The Clash of the Giants, did you ever hear about that one?" and that elicited a round of groans and laughs from the other Order members.

"I can't say I'm familiar with that one," came Megs response, looking through his notes.

"That's because no one calls it that but him," Lily said, unable to help herself, but throwing him a grateful smile at the same time.

"He's bloody ridiculous," Moody said, but she noticed he, too, had some laughter in his eyes. "The Clash of the Giants is a name that Potter gave to a duel he and Black—Sirius, that is—got into on a mission because—"

"He said I was not as good looking as I thought I was," James finished, causing the rest of the group to laugh.

"It led to a whole saga," Dumbledore said. "We wasted half an Order meeting, if I recall, listening to a play by play of the duel."

"I won, by the way," James said, and Lily had to hand it to him, he was in full Potter mode: charming, a little cocky, but so entertaining.

"You did not," Lily said. "I was there, remember?"

"Yes," I most certainly do," James said. "You defended my honor, if I recall correctly."

"Well, Sirius was wrong. He said you said you were better looking than him, which you never did. You merely said you were—"

"A solid 8 even on a bad day," Lily and James said at the same time, smiling at one another.

"Which was very subjective, so hard to disprove," Lily continued, without thinking.

"But you agreed," James said, quirking a brow at Lily.

"I didn't agree, just didn't necessarily disagree, either," Lily continued.

"Because you thought he looked like a 10, even on a bad day, Evans" Sirius yelled from the audience. "Because you were a thirsty, thirsty, girl when it came to James."

This brought on another round of laugher, and Lily held her hands up in mock surrender.

"I have to say, just before we move on," Megs said, clearly thrilled by the whole exchange, "as someone who does remember you two, back then, and wrote about you often for the society pages, it does bring me a ton of joy to see you getting along so well. You can't deny you have chemistry."

Lily took a sip of water, and James sort of gave Megs a half shrug.

"They like to be very coy," Moody said. "But it's been fun seeing the two back in one another's orbit again."

Lily felt her nerves rise again; it was not, as far as she knew, and she prided herself on knowing these kinds of things, public knowledge how involved James had been in bringing Lily on board to work with Moody. So to the average person it would sound like Lily and James were—

"They've been spending time together again, eh?" came Megs' question. "James, Lily, care to comment? Are you two back together?"

Lily was just opening her mouth to deny it, to share they merely had a friendly, professional relationship, but James headed her off.

"No comment," he said with a smirk and a wink, but the insinuation was heavy.

The roar of questions from the press box as deafening.


Then: James

"Potter, we got it!" came Eddie Bones' voice, floating over to his desk.

James put down the file he was pouring over, jotting down a quick note on it to look into a new lead, and met Eddie's victorious face.

"Our source came through. We got him," Bones said, and James felt his heart sink.

"You're positive?" James asked, hesitantly.

"Yep. The C.I met with Crouch late last night over drinks. Got a few in him and Crouch admitted it, was asking for advice on how he kept the kid out long term, was worried it could be too late already."

"And the C.I. isn't worried it was a set up? That Crouch was drunk? Or putting it out there to see if anyone bites?"

"Doesn't matter," Bones said with a shrug. "We have enough to bring him in for questioning. We got the son this morning, and he all but confirmed what the secretary said, and what the C.I. has brought us—"

"He's sunk," James said, and he swallowed hard. "When are we moving?"

"Now," Bones said. "Moody wanted to wait a day, but polls for elections open tomorrow, so—"

"You have to give me an hour," James said, ripping off a piece of parchment and firing a quick note to Lily.

"What are you doing?!" Bones said, diving to stop James. "You can't!"

"My fiancé is going to be next to Crouch while he gives his final stump speech literally right now; if we move, Lily is going to be caught in the cross fire. You have to let me get her out—"

"No can do," Bones said. "She won't be collateral. We have nothing on her. Tom Welch, yes, but she's clean—"

"But her career, her reputation—" James pleaded, and he knew he sounded desperate. He continued to jot a note, his hand shaking hard.

"She'll bounce back. Plus you two are getting married in a month. She won't need to work, being the Mrs. James Potter—"

"Eddie, please," James said, finishing his note and attaching it to the first owl he came to, unware if it was even a department owl or someone's pet, and sending it on his way. "Do not let them move until I know Lily's out."

"Potter, I can't," Bones said. 'We're moving right now. Come with us, the best I can do is let you go in first, but you'll have maybe a minute—"

"Done," James said, and took off to the elevator, Eddie hot on his heels, and several other aurors coming in behind. He could feel a panicked sweat creeping down his spine, his mouth dry.

I could've fixed this, he thought to himself. I should've told her, explicitly. He had hinted, Merlin knew, he had given as many hints as he dared, but he hadn't done enough to protect her. Auror oath be damned, he should have told her, even if it ruined his own career…

When they made it to the atrium, a large crowd was already gathered around Crouch, who was in full politician mode, voice booming, hands gesticulating.

"And I say to you now: I will go after every last Death Eater who dares to be out among us, pretending they did not actively fight for the subjugation of two thirds of our wizarding community, committing unspeakable atrocities against our community. Men being given immunity in exchange for information, and the crimes these men committed—we're talking murder, enslavement of muggleborns, torture—these same men now work for the ministry, thanks to Minchum. As minister, I would not stand for this—"

James gave Eddie a panicked look as he and the other aurors began to move.

"Wait!" Eddie tried to call out, but the movement had already drawn attention, with Crouch, and to James' horror, Lily, who stood just off to the side, taking notes on the speech looking up. Abandoning his unit, he sprinted to her, knocking anyone is way aside.

"Did you get my note?" James said to her as loudly as he dared as the aurors moved in.

"What? No," Lily said, confused and irritated. "What are you doing? What is this?"

"Right now, Lil, you have to listen to me," James continued as if she hadn't spoken. "Write a statement of condemnation and resignation. Jot it down and throw it at Crouch. You have to—"

"James, what are you—"

"You have to do it!" James said. "Please just listen—"

"But—"

Hearing yelling, James looked up, and dropped his head. It was too late. Barty Crouch was being handcuffed and taken at wandpoint, surrounded by the auror team. The press was closing in, cameras flashing wildly, and yelling, so much yelling in the confusion.

"Potter!" Bones yelled over the fray. "Issue a quick statement, then get upstairs."

"I can't!" James called back.

"Now, Potter!" Bones bellowed, and then he was swept out, hand on Crouch's back.

"I'm so sorry, Lily," James said, and it was as though he could feel his heart crack in two looking at her confused face. Moving to the podium, he braced himself as the press closed in on him, screams for clarification coming in furiously.

Moving his wand to his throat, he magically magnified his voice.

"Barty Crouch Jr., was arrested this morning as a confirmed Death Eater after several months of undercover surveillance. In that investigation, we have come to believe Mr. Crouch Sr., was aware of his son's involvement in with the Death Eaters and has actively been using his connections at the ministry to protect his son from prosecution. He is being brought in for further questioning, but we will not announce any formal charges until we have more information. We will not be answering any questions at this time."

As James turned from the podium, lights flashing, voices calling his name, he could only concentrate on Lily.

And the look of betrayal on her face would haunt him for years to come.


Trigger warnings: Some swearing throughout, discussion of Carter's infidelity, and mentions of sex during "Now" section. Biggest heads up for content is during the panel, when Lily has brief moments of flashback to what's been alluded to with Mulciber, but details will remain sparse for this chapter; however, it will be made clear she was abducted, along with several other young women.