Once as a child, Lily had been to Paris. She had many fond memories of that trip. It had been before they knew Lily was a witch, and so Petunia had been much friendlier. At their ages, both had been suitably impressed by the sights, but not impressed enough to avoid boredom as tour guides droned on about this king and that king, or that obscure architectural fact. How well Lily remembered Notre Dame, with her and Petunia trying to mimic the gargoyles' facial expressions when her parents weren't looking.

This Paris that she found herself in now was very different from that Paris. No Eiffel Tower stretched over the buildings to make that iconic Paris skyline. The streets looked very different from how she remembered, as if she were in a different city entirely than the one she remembered from her childhood. She looked in vain for something familiar, for some hint of the excitement she had felt back then. Instead, she felt nothing, even as she walked by Notre Dame and its familiar gargoyles, while James and Sirius and Cait stared like the tourists they were.

French conversation flooded the streets as people passed by, the strange words leaving Lily feeling especially foreign. Scotland in the 1740s, while different, had been navigable. Lily regretted her very weak grasp of French, because being in a different time as well as a different country was even more disorienting.

Fortunately, Gustave Malfoy had offered to accompany them to the wand shop. At first, he had suggested that they use floo powder, but quickly changed his tune when Cait had said she would like to see the sights. He led them through the streets with ease, chatting with Cait while she smiled and nodded, although Lily sensed that Cait's responses were more out of politeness than real interest. This left Sirius, Lily, and James together, and so Lily made a point of trailing behind the two men, ignoring James's occasional wounded look in her direction.

The wand shop was on a hidden street much like Diagon Alley. Gustave led the way into the large, pristine shop, where boxes of wands were stacked up to a high ceiling. In rapid French, he spoke with the shop owner, who fixated on Lily first.

Nervously, Lily stepped forward as he began to measure her.

"My last wand was willow with a unicorn hair core, if that helps," Lily said quietly.

After Gustave had translated, the shop owner said something back in rapid French.

"He says your last wand doesn't matter," Gustave said, with an apologetic shrug.

Lily tried several wands, feeling rather stupid being on display like this while her friends watched. Eventually, the shop owner seemed to sense this and ushered them out, telling them to come back in half an hour. Gustave protested, saying he should stay to translate, but the shop owner pushed him out too.

In the silent shop, Lily felt especially awkward, staring at the stone floor. The shop owner approached and muttered something in French. As Lily took another wand, her eyes welled up, and she turned away from the shop owner.

Gently, he took the wand from her hand. Taking her by the arm, he led her to a back room and gave her a steaming mug of tea. He sat across from her with his own cup, and they drank in silence, except for Lily's occasional sniffs.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He waved his hand, as if to wave away her comment; even if he didn't speak English, it was clear enough what she had said.

"The last time I got a wand, my parents were with me," she told him. "Everything was good then. Now everything's a mess. And maybe I'll never find a wand… I'm not even sure I want to be a witch anymore."

That was all she said, and she never would have said it if he'd spoken English.

They drank their tea, and once they were done, the shop owner led her back out. Lily was left feeling like she had made a new friend, and she tried more wands out of respect for his time, even if her heart wasn't in it.

After some hesitation, the shop owner passed her a wand that looked much like her old wand. She would guess that it was also a willow wand. This one was the right one; she felt it the moment it was in her hand.

She shot the shop owner a delighted smile, and he grinned back at her.

The door to the shop opened, and Lily whirled around in time to see her friends. They all looked worried, but as she turned to them with a smile on her face, some of their worry seemed to melt away.

Lily paid the shop owner (having retrieved her wedding gifts from Scotland before leaving for France), then settled back as Sirius tried out wands, and then James. Sirius's wand was found quickly, but James's wand was not. Finally, the shop owner handed James a wand that worked.

He murmured something to Gustave, who grinned.

"What?" James asked, looking self-conscious.

"Your core came from the same animal as Mrs. Potter's," Gustave explained.

Feeling uncomfortable, Lily quickly asked, "what is the core, Mr. Malfoy?"

The shop owner shook his head and spoke rapidly to Gustave. All of Gustave's merriment seemed to disappear.

"It came from a thestral."

Lily tensed. From what she knew about thestrals, this seemed like bad news. The shop owner came over and gripped her arm again, a comforting gesture.

"He says that some say a thestral tail hair core brings bad luck or death, but he disagrees. It's a rare core. It's only fit for a witch or wizard who has experienced pain and death, and can still look upon death without fear. It's a core for the brave."

Sirius looked at his wand with some disdain. "Well, I feel pretty bad about my lame dragon heartstring core now."

Cait rolled her eyes, although there was a fondness behind it. Gustave watched this with a downtrodden expression.

"Merci," Lily said as she left, the word clumsy on her tongue.

Still, the shop owner smiled as though she had said much more than the simple word.

They explored the rest of the area for some hours. Cait finally extricated herself from Gustave in the bookstore and moved to Lily.

"You're alright?"

"Yes," Lily assured her. "Excited to try my new wand, actually."

She picked up a book on potions, admiring the illustrations and wishing she could read the French.

"Gustave seems to be paying you a lot of attention," Lily said, mostly to change the subject away from herself.

Cait shrugged. "Yes. He'll be disappointed when I leave."

There was an odd note to Cait's voice, but before Lily could ask about it, Gustave was back again.

"I see you like the potions books, Mrs. Potter. What sort of books do you like, Cait?"

As soon as they were back at Pascale's home, Lily sought her out, with James, Sirius, and Cait on her heels.

"I suppose you're here to ask about my notes," Pascale said, lounging on a chair.

"Yes," James said. "Did you find anything?"

"Well, my dear," she said. "I'm an old woman. I'm afraid I misplace things. You'll have to be patient a little bit longer."

Lily found herself filled with despair, but she bit her tongue, not wanting to be rude.

Sirius had no such scruples.

"You misplaced them?" he asked suspiciously.

"You doubt me?" Pascale drawled.

"No, of course not," Lily interrupted. "Thank you for looking, Mrs. Malfoy."

She dragged Sirius out of the room.

"You can't believe her," Sirius snapped, as soon as the door was shut.

"Not really, no," Lily said. "But as she's the one who has the notes, it's best to play along and do what she wants."

"And search for them in the meantime," James said. "They're probably in a study of some sort."

"Brilliant, James!" Sirius said.

James nodded once, as if to acknowledge his own brilliance. "I'm sure if Cait just asks Gustave where Pascale's study is…"

"And if we're caught?" Cait asked. "What then?"

"We won't get caught," James said with a shrug.

Cait muttered something unkind about Gryffindors, while Lily found herself torn between Cait and James. She wanted to get her hands on the notes desperately, but Cait was right to be cautious, Lily thought. Then again, James and Sirius certainly had practice sneaking around and not being caught (mostly).

"I think we'll have to risk it," Lily said finally.

James muttered, "yes!" and even Sirius nodded his approval.

"Gustave says there's supposed to be a ball here in a few days," Cait said finally. "If you're stupid enough to want to sneak around, that may be the time to do it."

"Excellent," James said.

He grinned at Lily, and for a moment, she almost forgot about keeping her distance, because James's smile was so beautiful, and it made her want to kiss him. To her shame, she couldn't keep herself from smiling back, but she quickly averted her eyes.

That night, James had nightmares. As Lily lay awake, James tossed and turned, and he woke up gasping, hand searching for his wand on the nightstand.

Lily couldn't help it. She reached for him and whispered, "it's okay."

He relaxed slightly at her touch, although his breaths remained fast. Her hand found his.

They remained that way, close, hands grasped together. She was afraid James would speak and break this spell, but he didn't. Quietly, they returned to sleep, safe in each other's embrace.