Here is chapter four. I think I put in the wrong Chapter number last time, I just inserted the wrong number; it was chapter 3. I was thinking of Coping. This chapter is important, and one of my longer ones. Eight whole pages! Well, just over seven actually…

Disclaimer: I do not hold any claim to Harry Potter, or anything associated with J.K. Rowling's books. I do however own my idea and my OCs, Silence, Caitlin, Glory, Jenn, Carol Peters, Jessica Morison, and Amarante Seta.

Chapter 4 — Carol and the Train

Lily looked up from Hogwarts: A History as James poked his head into the room, running his hand through his messy hair. "Lily, it won't be awkward with Carol over tonight, will it?"

"No, James. I don't was to impose. It doesn't matter to me, honestly." Lily assured him, setting the book to the side and standing. Her head reached James' shoulder, and she felt very small.

"Do you mind helping me cook?" James asked hopefully.

"I didn't say I would cook, I said I didn't care if your girlfriend came. I'm not helping, I was promised a meal, and Caitlin's comments haven't stopped."

"So, you're James' ex wife." Carol said in an overly peppy way. "Nice to meet the woman who cheated on him."

"Excuse me?" Lily asked loudly, glaring at James. "What did you say to me?"

"Well it's obvious you did something to James to make him dump you and issue a divorce."

"Carol, dear, Lily and I wasn't working out, and she realized that, and left with Harry and Silence, my other children."

"James, is Carol a muggle?" Lily asked in confusion.

"Muggle?" Carol asked, thinking of it as an insult

"Carol, honey, I have to talk to you. I'm not exactly like you. I'm a…well, I'm a wizard, Carol." James confessed, bracing himself for the screaming and insulting he expected. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Hon, but I was afraid you'd overreact. Lily is a witch, too, and so are our children."

"Not all, squib." Caitlin reminded him, shooting Silence a glare. She burst into tears, getting up and running to Lily.

"Caitlin Lily Potter!" James shouted. "Go to your room, we don't use that language, especially when we refer to our sisters!" He roared, standing up and dragging Caitlin upstairs by her arm.

"Silence, it's fine, it's okay. Caitlin didn't mean anything by it, honey." Lily tried to comfort her.

"I'll take her upstairs, mum." Harry volunteered, leaving Glory, Carol, and Lily at the table. "Come on, Si."

"Oh my God!" Carol shrieked as an owl dove through the window and settled itself in front of Lily. "Get that…that…thing out of the dining room!"

"That's from Hogwarts, a barn owl!" Glory exclaimed, ignoring Carol's shrieks of protest as Lily took the letter with the Hogwarts crest.

Ms. Lily Evans,

It is our unfortunate job here at Hogwarts to find replacement teachers for retired or deceased professors, and our Arithmacy teacher, Professor Bursa, just informed me of her decision to retire. Of course, we have been searching for a good replacement.

You are probably wondering the point of this letter, so I will get on with it, Lily. We remembered your success in Arithmacy, and would greatly appreciate it if you took the role. Of course, you are probably wondering about your daughter, Silence, is it? We would be happy if she would accompany you, but would not attend classes. She would have no connection to magic other than staying in the castle.

Please respond as soon as possible if you can or cannot become a teacher at the school. We have instructed our owl, Perry, to wait for your response.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster

"James!" Lily's head snapped up at Carol's shriek and she saw James enter the room.

"Is that Precious Perry?" He asked as the owl hooted softly. "If it is Perry, watch out, Lils. He bites." James said as the owl nipped Lily's finger.

"'Precious'?" Lily exclaimed, edging away from the owl.

"Sirius named him. He loved that owl, but that's beside the point. Caitlin, Harry, Silence, come sit down." He said, taking his place at the table as the three children sat down angrily. "Carol, my mum used to say, 'James, when you love something, you have to protect it with all your heart,' and Carol, that's what I want with you," He said, walking over to her. "I want you to let me protect you for the rest of our lives, that will hopefully be shared together." He knelt, and fished a box out of his pocket. "Carol Peters, will you marry me?" He asked, opening the box to reveal a gorgeous engagement ring.

By that point, Lily was about to scream, and she did. "James! You said that same crap to me when you proposed! Don't do it, Carol, he'll probably sleep with Jessica again just to get out of the marriage! He won't love you in five years! Silence, Harry, come on, get your stuff; we're going. Glory, if you want to come, just say the word." Lily said and stormed upstairs. Silence and Harry hesitated, but followed.

"Dad, I was hoping I could go with them for the rest of summer. Please?" Glory asked, but James shook his head. "Can I owl Si, then?" He asked as the three leaving guests left. James glared at his daughter as Silence gave Glory a quick hug before grabbing onto Lily's arm as they disseparated to their house with a loud 'pop'.

Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I would be very honoured to accept your offer to be the Arithmacy teacher. I'm sure my daughter, Silence, is looking forward to seeing Hogwarts, and meeting the Professors. I will take the Hogwarts express with my children and come straight to you when we arrive. Thank you for the opportunity, I always loved Arithmacy.

Lily

She attached the letter to Perry's leg as James' owl flew in, and landed. She shooed it out, but it picked at the string holding the message onto its leg, leaving the note before leaving. Lily lifted it up and tossed it in the fire. "Mummy?"

"Silence, what is it?"

"What was on the letter you sent?"

"Honey, I've accepted a job at Hogwarts, so we will go with Harry. Is that okay?" Lily asked as she led Silence back upstairs. "You'll get to go to Hogwarts, Silence. You can see Glory again."

"Really?"

"Yes, but I think it's time we went to sleep, Si. Okay?"

The next few weeks went by quickly for James and his fiancée, Carol, and Lily and the kids. Silence was very excited about going to Hogwarts and seeing Glory again, and would ask Harry all sorts of question.

Caitlin wouldn't listen to Glory talking about 'that disgraceful squib' and was often punished by James, who was happy with his engagement. Lily had shaken Carol up, but she had accepted, nevertheless, and James had accepted a job at Hogwarts. He had asked if Carol could come, and she could, so he took the unemployed woman and told her. She eagerly accepted, and they reached King's Cross, only to find Lily boarding the Hogwarts Express.

"What are you doing here?" James asked, stepping into the compartment after Silence.

"I'm teaching Arithmacy, James. What are you doing?"

"He's teaching Defence Against the Arts." Carol cut in arrogantly. "My fiancée doesn't want you here."

"It's fine, Carol!" James exclaimed. "Si, Glory's just in the next compartment with Harry and Caitlin."

"Okay." Silence said, lifting up her kitten's cage and leaving the room so the three adults could argue in peace. She entered the compartment. "Hi, Harry, Glory." She said, smiling weakly at them and the strangers.

"Squib." Caitlin spat at her as a girl with bushy hair came up.

"Hermione Granger. What a beautiful cat." She commented.

"Yeah," Silence said softly. "That's Night. He's about six months old now. Hey, Glory."

"Hey, Silence. How's mum?"

"Mad, but good. Dad?"

"Happy, perfect. Engaged. Carol's such a witch sometimes." Silence giggled, and Harry tried to suppress a chuckle. "Like last night, she suggested moving in. She wants another kid, a 'normal' kid. She wants us gone!"

"I'm sure mum would love to have you guys."

In the adjoining compartment, a blonde woman stuck her head into the compartment, a face that James and Lily recognized immediately.

"Hi James…Lily." She said carefully. "I'm teaching Divination. You?"

"Jessica." Lily said coldly, and James glared at the girl. "What?"

"Lily I didn't sleep with James, I swear!" She said. "I wouldn't do that to you. You know, you were head girl, and I guess Sirius said something when we were together…'you can't change who you love', and I guess James, you loved Lily, and it got me thinking, I've been a jerk to Lily. Can we try to put it in the past, Lily? I promise I didn't do it, please! Use a truth potion; I don't care. I'm not lying." Jessica pleaded.

"I don't think I can forget it, Jessica, but I will use that truth potion on you and James. Do you have any?"

"I happen to have some." The Potions Master, Snape, said. "I was told to come and supervise you. Here, Lily. I'm the new Potions teacher. Sit down, Jessica, Potter."

"Snivellous," James said, sitting beside the petite blond as Lily let a drop fall into his mouth.

"Did you sleep with Jessica Morison?"

"No."

"Who do you love?" Lily asked impulsively, as Carol watched intently at her fiancée's eyes as he answered, as if in a trance.

"Lily Evans and Carol Peters."

"And Jessica?" Jessica asked, wanting to ask.

"She seems nice. I want to get to know her as a friend." James said, blinking as the drop wore off. "How'd I do?" He asked nervously, as Lily poured a drop into Jessica's mouth.

"Did you sleep with James Potter when he was married to Lily Evans?"

"No, I slept with Peter Pettigrew, who used a polyjuice potion and stunned me, using the Imperious Curse to make me do it. I saw him transform."

"Really?" James asked.

"Yes." Jessica said, and they waited until the potion wore off.

"I'd love to get to know you, Jessica. James, I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I'm going to owl Jenn and Amarante. I think I should tell them.

She wrote two letters, addressed differently:

Ama,

Hey! How's marriage with Sirius? Pregnant yet? I miss you. Guess what, though! I'm working at Hogwarts as the Arithmacy teacher! Jenn wrote me a letter earlier, and said that James couldn't lie to me, because he loved me so much, well, it was the truth. I tried a potion on him, Jessica suggested it, and Peter Pettigrew snuck into our house and put Jessica under the Imperious Curse, used polyjuice potion, turned into James, and slept with Jessica! Isn't that awful? Well, I should owl Jenny.

Lily

Jenn,

Hey! You were right; Peter Pettigrew framed James! He used polyjuice potion, isn't that awful! He ruined my marriage, and now James is engaged to that cow, Carol! I'm also working at Hogwarts with him and Jessica Morison. I'm the new Arithmacy teacher, and James is teaching DADA. Well, I should go.

Lily

"James, can I borrow your owl?" She asked, and he passed her the cage. She took out the owl and tied the letters to its leg. "Jenn and Ama, okay?" She told it, and it flew out the window.

"Mum?" Harry asked. "Mum, Silence wants her book, and Caitlin's teasing her." Harry said, and Lily stood up. She walked into the compartment and snatched the book from Caitlin's grasp.

"Caitlin Lily Potter, how dare you steal this book!" Lily shouted. "This is very important to Silence, and I think that until you can learn to respect her property you should be grounded!"

"You can't ground me, you're not my mother!" That was the wrong thing the say, though.

"I gave birth to you, Caitlin Lily Potter! You won't talk back to me, I am your mother, and I always will be, not that brat your father is marrying!" Lily exploded as James reached the door.

"Lily, Caitlin," He shouted. "Caitlin, grounded for two months, and no Quiddich. Lily, apologise. He said, and Lily shook her head.

"You aren't my mother, James." She said, and she left, Jessica following, talking to her.

"So," Jessica said. "What was that all about, Lily?"

"I don't know, Jessica. James is marrying that muggle woman, who clearly hates the kids, and wants them all gone. Like they're a problem, like…"

"Like Petunia?" She asked, and Lily furrowed her brow.

"How do you know about Petunia?"

"Remember when I was in first year and you were in third. We were friends, Lily, and you told me about her and how she called you a freak."

"I had almost forgotten about that." Lily said sadly. "When I hated James. When he loved me." She remembered sadly. "He said he loved me today, but he loves that woman more."

There were so many good places to stop, I wanted to stop when they left, I wanted to stop when Jessica came, I wanted to stop when Snape came, I wanted to stop when Caitlin was bothering Silence, and I wanted to stop when she wouldn't apologize. Instead, I gave out some information about Jessica and Lily. Jess is cool, and how many of you suspected polyjuice and Peter of all people. He never left the house, either. He was there as a rat! Ron has a normal rat, too. Well, next chapter somebody gets sorted, actually, lots of people, and one extra. Who is the extra? Find out next chapter.