"James Potter," She said again as if reaffirming it to herself. Before her stood all 6 foot of James Potter, although ten years old not much had changed in his appearance since their school days. His glasses remained in placed and his messy black hair was an unruly as it always was.
"Lily," James said in response. His tone didn't let much of his feeling go but his face looked concerned.
"Lily," Freya began taking the lead as Lily and James seemed to be struggling with their communication skills. "I believe you know my son James who I believe you went to school with." She confirmed this detail, although it was needless as both knew the other.
"Lily, she continued. "I think you're in shock but James and I are investigating this incident, shall we say, off the books. So it would be great if we could perhaps take you home, get you a cup of tea, and discuss what's happened here and see if you know any details that might help the situation. Would that be okay with you?" Freya continued, her clear calming voice a welcome change to the flurry of thought whirring through Lily's head.
Lily couldn't help but stare up at James instead of responding to Freya. A figure from her Hogwarts years, a very memorable one too, seemed like such an alien sight to Lily's current life. She blinked and tried to behave normally for a second and respond to Freya.
"Yes, yes we can go to my house it's nearby. I have my car here though." She said. She noticed James looked surprised by this, perhaps she thought, because Lily was a witch and didn't apparate anymore. She managed to get to her feet and felt steadier than before. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keys as if to reaffirm her car situation.
James nodded and reached for the keys.
"I'll drive." He said curtly. Freya led the way and James walked alongside Lily in silence, closely enough to grab her if she toppled again. As she walked out the house towards her car she noticed all the neighbours had departed and the policeman was gone. So quickly they move on with their lives but Lily felt forever shook by the morning's events.
She walked to wards her car and James opened the front passenger door for her, a gesture she greeted with surprise. Ten years had passed since school but chivalry was not a quality she thought James Potter possessed. Freya hopped into the back seat of the car casually and sat with a serious look on her face. She was a very beautiful woman and Lily now saw as she peered in the reverse mirror what she recognised in her and it was her warm blue eyes, which James also had.
James hopped into the driver's seat very confidently and pushed the key into the ignition. Lily watched in surprise as she knew James came from a pureblood family and therefore would never had been raised around muggle cars. He quickly had the car in gear and looped round and up to the junction, Lily still watching his every move.
"I learned to drive the summer before we finished school." He said suddenly as if reading Lily's mind. "I had a fascination with muggle transport and thought learning might impress people at school." Lily nodded, James' Mum chuckled lightly in the back at his comment and he scowled but stayed silent.
"Take a left here." She said quietly and he followed her instruction and carefully cruised down the street towards her house. As they pulled up outside she felt suddenly self conscious of her house. It wasn't anything special and she was aware that James came from a very wealthy wizarding family.
"It's not much." She said shyly as she got out of the car. Freya smiled up at the house and looked at Lily warmly.
"It's lovely - your garden is so beautiful." She said fondly looking down at the garden which Lily maintained in her mother's memory. Lily managed a smile at this, it had been a long time since anyone had admired the garden and it felt nice to share it.
"Shall we go inside?" Freya asked politely and Lily jumped to attention and walked up the pathway. The Potters following behind her at a polite distance while she got her keys out and opened the door. She ushered them in and looked around quickly to check the house was tidy and of course it was pristine.
They walked towards the back of the house and into the kitchen. Lily felt more like herself now back in her safe space and pottered around putting the kettle on and getting cups out of the cupboard.
"Please sit," She said. They both nodded and sat at the kitchen table. Both of them were watching her and she felt nervous but relieved to not be alone after this morning's event. If she'd been given one thousand outcomes to today having two Potters sat in her kitchen wouldn't even have made the list.
Lily made quick work of the teas and carried the three cups over to the table and then sat down with them. They both uttered their thanks and James picked up his and blew on the water to cool it quicker.
"Lily," Freya began, finally breaking the quiet. "We really need to know everything you know about this situation. It's been a dangerous few years and this could be a huge breakthrough." Lily nodded and took a sip of the tea but it was too hot still.
"I really don't know much. I work at a local muggle newspaper and I was given a tip to go and talk to Mr Dawes about 6 days ago." Lily began, the whole story spilled out and James and his mother listened intently taking in every details. When she finished the story, taking them right up until this moment Freya sighed and looked at James as they seemed to silently agree on something.
"Did Mr Dawes mention anything else about the man who was taken? Anything that might distinguish him?" James asked. Lily looked at him, he looked older, not in a bad way but she could see behind his glasses his eyes looked a little tired.
"Hold on I'll check my notes." Lily said, she grabbed her notepad off the counter where she had left it. She skimmed through it and mentioned a few details she'd missed.
"The man had a purple birthmark on his face!" She announced suddenly finding the note. James head shot up and he exclaimed "shit!" and leapt out of his seat followed by an apology. He raked his hand through his hair and paced the kitchen. Freya remained calmer but she still looked concerned about this piece of news.
"Please, you have to tell me more now. I've shared my story. You have to tell me something. I'm going crazy here." Lily said looking between the two. "Why are you here off the books? You mentioned dangerous years, what does that means? I've been… gone from that world for such a long time." James looked at Lily and then his mother and she nodded as if giving him permission to go ahead. He took a deep breath and then began.
"To begin, my mother and I are aurors. My mother being a senior auror. Since it must be what 9 years since you've been absence from wizarding news I'll try to catch you up as quickly as possible." He said, surprising Lily that he knew the exact time she'd been absent.
"The last 9 years has seen a slow increase of unexplained disappearances, attacks and even murders all stemming around muggle hate, pureblood mania and a political struggle going on so deep in the ministry that it's almost completely unknown to the outside world. The attacks are getting more and more frequent but they are covered up so quickly that no one is willing to admit what is obvious. We are at war." He took a breath and Lily stayed quiet to listen.
"We still work for the ministry but recently it's become clear that the ministry may be infiltrated by the enemy. I came across a file that wasn't meant to be seen by prying eyes and it lead me to this case. The house was reported as burning to the ground under suspicious circumstances, but it had no mention of any of the details you just gave us. So this could be a huge breakthrough for us." James said. Lily watched him speak and couldn't help but be surprised at how different he is, he speaks to intelligently and couldn't be further from the boy she knew at school.
"Who is the war against though?" Lily asked. Freya stepped in at this point.
"There is a man who has been building up followers, called death eaters, for over 20 years, no one dares speak his name as it's rumoured if you do you'll be next to face him but I fear no name. He goes by Lord Voldemort, an alias created to incite fear. The men you saw drag that other man away were his death eaters. They are ruthless and sick and will do anything their master desires." She said, the disdain in her voice clear. "The war is being fought under cover by those brave enough to do the extra and James and I are part of a resistance. I hope I can trust you with this information Lily." Freya added seriously.
"Why do you trust me?" Lily asked surprised that Freya would share this with her.
"I've heard good things about you Lily Evans." Freya added with a smile. James twitched his head from his standing position and Lily caught him looking at her with wide eyes of someone who wishes the conversation to change. Freya smiled and stood excusing herself to use the bathroom.
Left alone, Lily sat and James stood in awkward silence. James looked out the window into Lily's garden and Lily sipped her tea. Surprisingly James broke the silence whilst still looking outside.
"Why did you disappear Lily?" He asked. "Last I heard you were top of the class at healer school." He said turning to look at her. She raised her eyebrows at the question and paused before answering, the truth sounded so pathetic but there was no point in lying.
"My mother became ill and I had to care for her." Lily said taking another sip of her tea.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said immediately. "How is she now?" She looked away trying not to get upset, the thought of her mother's passing still bringing tears to her eyes.
"She passed away two years ago." She said as matter of factly as possible. James looked at her even more intently now.
"Two years ago?" He asked, a surprising response Lily thought, considering most people immediately wanted to give condolences.
"Sorry," He added onto the end and running his hand through his hair as he obviously felt uncomfortable. "What I meant to say is that I'm so sorry to hear about your mother's passing. But I also wonder why you didn't rejoin healer training? Two years is a long time to waste your potential." He said seriously. She felt uncomfortable under his gaze and felt a little blush rise to her cheeks at his compliment of her ability. She prepared to say something about not being ready or how she had a job at the paper but Freya walked back in and saved her the trouble.
"Thank you for the tea Lily. I just wanted to discuss with you Mr Dawes and then we should be going." Freya said and Lily felt her chest tighten at the mention of mr Dawes. "With your information about Mr Dawes and what he saw plus his visit to the house last night I think we can assume that his death isn't a coincidence. The house was most likely being watched as we believe what they were looking for hasn't been found yet so when he went back to visit the house he was likely followed home. I can't tell you more than that but it brings me to my next point. Your involvement in this situation and you living so close by makes me think that you may no longer be safe in this house by yourself. Do you have anyone that you might stay with out of town for a little while until this blows over?" She asked kindly. Lily knew straight away there was no one, her sister couldn't be involved in anything magical related and would be horrified with a surprised visit from her freak sister. Other than that there wasn't anyone else she could rely on.
"No there isn't, I'm sure I'll be fine here. I can look up some protection charms for the house." Lily said pulling out her wand which she'd forgotten was safely tucked up her sleeve. James looked almost annoyed at her suggestion and crossed his arms.
"What about a friend from school? Alice or Emmeline?" James asked not willing to let this go.
"I don't keep in touch with anyone from school." Lily said curtly.
"Well you can't stay here." he said firmly from his standing point in the kitchen. The authoritarian tone in his voice seemed to rise something out of Lily and she stood and firmly said.
"This is my house and I shall not be forced out by anyone!" She said a little too passionately for such a small group. Freya sighed but nodded resignedly.
"James I need to go, I have a meeting at the ministry. Will you stay and help Lily charm the house?" She asked, he nodded and Freya bid Lily goodbye and promised to see her again soon. She then popped out to the garden to apparate from behind Lily's garden shed.
"You really shouldn't stay here alone Lily." He said more calmly than his earlier order. His eyes looked earnest so she didn't snap but she remained strong to her decision.
"I have no where else to go. I won't be chased out of my house, especially if it's not even certain I'm in danger." She said. James changed the subject and started firing protection charms around the home.
"You should do some yourself, charms made by the inhabitant are always stronger." James said as he charmed all the exits.
"I know, I remember." She said, it may have been a long time since she used magic but she still remembered everything. Her years of studying were stuck in her head. She took her wand and waved it around her head in a swift sweep and then down and whispered the charm for home protection from intruders. She felt a rush of energy flow through her, something she hadn't felt in so long so almost bit back a tear of remembrance. She bit her lip though and concentrated on the spell until it was complete.
Once finished she realised James was watching her and she felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. She placed her wand back down on the kitchen table as if to end the fun.
"Thank you for your help." She said politely.
"Do you have an owl?" He asked randomly. She shook her head at the question confused.
"I'm just wondering how you can get in touch if you need anything. I know, I'll send you one of our owls to use and if you see anything weird, or just… want to talk. You can owl me… or my Mum, whenever." He said, his face seemed to flush a little as he blustered through the sentence.
"Thanks James. You don't need to do that though." She said and he blinked at her calling him his first name.
"No it's fine. It's better this way. I'll send you the owl later today. Right I better go then." He said turning to go. As he was about to turn and head out of the door he turned back to Lily and quickly said, "It was good to see you Lily." Before he turned and left out the back door to apparate away as his mother did.
