I feel so guilty for abandoning you guys, you must have thought this story dead. I was really swamped with GCSE coursework and homework, seeing as the teachers decided to let up a bit and then pour the stuff on us. :(
BUT NO! IT'S ALIVE!
My Geography and Astronomy coursework is DONE (mostly) and I am back online!
*cheering*
Anyways, HUMONGOUS thanks to randver for this big plot twist coming up, and on with the story!
Enjoy xx
Lily's POV
I swept through the Ministry up to Scrimgeour's office. James was interviewing house elves and Sirius was off doing God-knows-what. I had taken it upon myself to have a few words with a few people. James was coming later and until then, I had some time to myself.
My first visit was to Scrimgeour, who greeted me, obviously distracted and asked after my health. I thanked him for his obvious concern and told him how long I intended to stay. He offered me an escort, which I politely declined and then excused myself from his presence.
Next was Cornelius Fudge.
"Good morning, Mister Fudge" I said as brightly as I could.
"Jane, would you put those files on my desk? I have a meeting in two hours and I need to revise that court case" he mumbled, without taking his nose out of a book he was reading, called The Politics of Justice.
"I don't know what filed you mean, sir" I replied in the same sweet tone.
"Oh, honestly, Jane" he sighed. "Your memory is worse than Lockhart's after he obliviated himself."
He looked up with an exasperated expression, which quickly switched to pure shock.
"M-Merlin's b-b-beard" Fudge stuttered. "Lily Evans."
"Potter" I corrected swiftly. "My name is Lily Potter."
"Ah, yes" he muttered. "Married that brutish-"
"You had better watch what you say, Corny" I smiled. "I have been watching for a long time. I have seen dark things, things you wouldn't believe. Just because I turned you down in third year, doesn't mean you have the right to discriminate against my family."
"What, but that's - that's preposterous. I have never-" he spluttered.
"Yes you have" I answered calmly. "You fought against my husband becoming an auror, you wrongly accused our best friend of being a mass murderer, and most important of all, you called my son a liar about a situation you should have taken more seriously. Sending that toad woman into Hogwarts was a big mistake. I do not easily forgive, Corny, and I never forget. Give me the slightest reason to bring hell upon you, and believe me, I will not hesitate."
With that final threat, I glided out of his office and down the hallway. I reached adoor that was a horrible shade of pink, just like Petunia's prom dress, with a portrait of a fluffy white kitten. I suppressed the urge to vomit and pushed through the door. The toad looked up and burped in surprise.
"Hello, dear" I simpered in an almost perfect imitation of Umbridge herself.
Umbridge's eyes bulged and it looked like she was choking.
"How is this- I don't-" she coughed.
"Oh, yes" I paused. "I don't suppose they would have told you about our little party trick in Hogwarts after you mutilated half their hands, did they? Well, guess what? Me, my husband and Sirius Black are back from the dead!" I announced, as if I were gossiping with one of my old friends.
Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she spluttered. I smiled and tilted my head slightly to the right, as if I was curious about her reaction.
"Why, Dolores" I gasped, feigning concern. "Are you quite well?"
"You cannot just walk into Hogwarts and present yourself as back from the dead!" she cried. "You should have come to the Ministry first."
"Oh" I let my face fall. "I wasn't aware that there was any protocol for returning from the eternal void. Would you be a darling and explain it to me so I don't make any more mistakes?"
My dripping sarcasm took her aback. Then she drew herself up to her full height, rising out of her chair. she was not very tall at all, a head shorter than me and I was quite short myself.
"The Ministry of Magic has many reasons for sending me to Hogwarts and those children deserved every line I made them write!" she screeched. "The Magical Decree Number One Hundred And Twenty Seven stated that I, as the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister For Magic, had the authority to punish those insolent brats as I saw fit! Cornelius Fudge himself-"
"Oh, yes" I interrupted. "I already had words with him. I think he had to indulge in a bit of firewhiskey after that. You do know about his drinking problem, right?"
"How DARE you!" she squealed and lunged at me, clawing for my throat.
"Petrificus Totalus" I lazily swished my new wand and froze her in that position, enraged expression and grubby mitts outstretched.
I sent a Patronus to Kingsley asking him to kindly send an auror to Umbridges office. A few minutes later, the young witch I remembered as Tonks bounced into the room. Today, she had icy blue eyes and short, almost white hair.
"Wotcha, Lily" she winked. "What's up?"
She looked around and then noticed the immobile toad on the floor. She rolled her eyes.
"Thank Merlin" she said. "I've been dying for a chance to rid the Ministry of her. She's just a drag on everyone who comes across her."
I chuckled.
"What are you gonna do with her?" I asked curiously.
"I am going to levitate her straight to Moody" Tonks grinned. "Right through the Main Atrium. Should cause a bit of a stir with the face she's wearing. How did you manage to get her like that anyways?"
"Oh, I just accused her of torturing children and told her that her secret lover is an alcoholic" I laughed. "Gave her a bit of a surprise, I'd say. This isn't going to cause you any rush is it, with all those other Death Eaters to sort through?"
"Oh, no" she waved it off. "This will be much more fun than having Dark Wizards spit at you."
"Well then, pleasure doing business with you" I shook her hand jokingly. "By the way, I approve."
"Of what?" she asked, looking perplexed.
"The person you admire is your heart's greatest desire" I told her winking.
She blushed deeply, her eyes turning chocolate brown and her hair turning very long and black. She mumbled something I thought was idon'tknowwhutyoumean. I smiled knowingly.
"It's okay" I reassured her. "I denied it at first too, but once you have him, you'll never want to let go."
I gave her a quick hug and skipped away. As I left the horrid room, I felt a weight lift off my chest, as if something in the room had been suppressing me. I shivered and headed to the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. On the elevator ride, I could feel every person in there staring at me. I made me want to curl up in a corner and hide, but I held my chin high and carried on. I stopped at the door which read Weasley and Perkins and knocked.
"Come in."
I stepped inside and smiled at the man behind of the desks, who was not Arthur.
"Are you Perkins?" I asked.
"Yes, how can I help you, Mrs Potter?" he replied, looking rather ill and tired.
"I'm looking for Arthur" I told him. "I intended to talk to him yesterday, but I didn't get the chance."
"That was probably because there was a tea party in Bristol where the spoons decided to stuff themselves up the guests nose" he informed me. "Caused a bit of a riot. He should be in the aurors office talking to Dawlish. Said something about muggle pocket watches on the Death Eaters and checking they didn't squirt anything nasty."
I thanked him politely and left. I grabbed a passer-by and requested the directions to the aurors office. Arriving, I saw a huge cork board with newspaper clippings, photos and maps pinned to it. This covered most of one wall. The rest of the office was separate booths shorter than me, about a hundred, but very few with people in them. One occupied two people, one had fluffy graying hair and the other was almost bald, with orange hair in patches across his scalp.
"Mr Weasley?" I called, causing the balding man to look up.
"My word! Lily Potter" he gasped, striding over and shaking my hand vigorously. "I didn't get to talk to you yesterday, it is so wonderful to see you again."
"Thank you" I smiled graciously. "I just came by to give you my thanks, for looking out for Harry all these years. Ever since he learned he was a wizard, he was a bit out of his depth. Your family was a great help to him and I don't know how I can repay you."
"Don't be silly" he said. "You would have done the same for us, from what I have heard of you."
"Definitely," I smiled. "But if you ever need a favour, don't hesitate to call."
"Of course" he smiled. "And the same goes for you. If you need help, just ask."
I bade him goodbye and swept off to find James, as he should have arrived. I only had to wait fifteen minutes, which was spent reading the front page of the Daily Prophet, sat on the edge of the fountain in the Main Atrium.
Voldemort Mugglefied In Exchange For Potter's Parents was the headline. I snorted, unsure if the word 'mugglefied' was even a word at all. The article was written by Rita Skeeter and included an exclusive interview from Tom Riddle. I rolled my eyes, imagining the obvious delight she must have felt when she got a call to write about something this big. Unfortunately, she had also insisted on a press conference. James, Sirius, Tom and I had to stand for an hour, answering questions of the public. Thankfully, there was no picture of Riddle
"Hey there, little miss" a voice said from above me. "What are you up to?"
I looked up to see Sirius grinning down at me.
"Hey there, sunshine" I greeted him, rolling up the newspaper. "Are you finished doing Merlin knows what?"
"Yep" he said, sitting next to me. "Hestia was scared out of her wits. It was hilarious."
"You did not go and meet my best friend" I gaped. "Tell me you didn't!"
"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies, Lily-flower" he sang.
I whacked him over the head with the newspaper. He made to push me into the fountain behind us, but quailed at the death glare I gave him, thankfully deciding against getting me all wet. A good thing for him, too. I would have hexed him to the floor right there and then. Two minutes later, James joined us, giving me a peck on the cheek, closely followed the former Dark Lord himself.
"You ready?" James asked.
"Never going to be, but oh well" replied Tom.
I nodded and led our little group to the press room set aside for our little public appearance. As soon as I opened the door, flashes of cameras and shouts from reporters nearly made me dizzy. James steadied me and guided me to the podium. I noticed that Tom seemed to be trying to hide behind us. I smiled gently at him and moved slightly in front of him, shielding him from the crowd.
"Thank you" he whispered. "If there's one thing I can't take, it's large crowds wanting to talk to me."
"So how did you address your Death Eaters?" I murmured.
"I made them fear me enough that they could only see me in small groups" he muttered. "Twenty at the most."
I nodded and turned back to the crowd. I raised my hands and they fell silent, with only the occasional flash.
"Only one at a time, please" I called. "Raise your hand if you have a question."
A few people looked at me skeptically, but a couple stuck their hands in the air. I pointed at a brunette witch in the third row.
"How is this possible?" she asked breathlessly.
"We're not really sure" answered James. "Tom?"
I patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and he stepped forward.
"I don't think that it should be knowledge to be passed freely around" he carefully stated. "Let's just leave it at a lot of research and the loss of my own magic."
"What are you going to do now?"
"How are you adjusting to being back in the living world?"
"What is death like?"
The questions seemed never-ending, but the journalists refrained from bombarding us. I silently promised to thank James later, who answered most of the questions with likable ease. The flow of curiosity ebbed and was at last stemmed. I smiled at the crowd and turned to go, following my husband.
Suddenly, a bright flash of green appeared right in front of me. People screamed as Riddle dived in front of me. Green turned to purple and Tom collapsed, convulsing. I crouched as James whipped round, searching for the attacker. At the back of the room, almost hidden by the milling reporters, was a man in a dark blue cloak and a lime green bowler.
Sirius howled a spell and Fudge fell on his face, where the aurors just arriving converged upon him. James and I bent over the unconscious victim. I checked his pulse.
"He's fading fast, we need to get a healer, now" I said in a rush.
"No need" someone said.
We looked up to see Natalie standing over us, worry in her eyes.
"I told him he should have wards" she fussed as she knelt next to him. "But he refused, saying that if the public were going to trust him, they had to know that he trusted them."
The tone of her voice portrayed her true feelings. She was terrified for him.
"Will he be okay?" asked James.
"I won't know until he's back at St. Mungo's" she answered.
With that, she levitated him out of the room. I buried my head in James's shoulder and whimpered, realizing that the curse had been aimed at me.
"Shh, it's okay" he murmured, rubbing my back. "We got him."
"It's not that" I whispered. "I don't think he was the one behind this. He looked lost, like he'd been under the Imperius Curse or something."
"We'll figure it out" he soothed. "I promise."
I sincerely hoped so.