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Chapter 3

Homecoming

It was a bitter cold day – even for January – Lily thought as she made her way through one of the not–so–nicer parts of the city. She pulled her coat closer to her with a smile; even after being in New York for over a year, she still missed London's winter. Finally, she reached her graffiti painted building, climbed the three flights of stairs and entered her apartment.

She lit up a cigarette and sighed. One day she'd quit. Just not today, she though as she took another drag. But as the smoke billowed out of her mouth, she heard someone behind her say, "Hello, Lily,"

She nearly jumped out of her skin. She whipped around and saw, to her immense shock...

"P–Professor Dumbledore?"

He smiled. "Surprised to see me?"

"Well, considering that Rachel is the only one who knows where I live..." she said, slightly recovering from the shock. She suddenly realized that this was Albus Dumbledore that was standing in her apartment, without a doubt the most powerful wizard she had ever met. She put out her cigarette and said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

000

I can't believe it, I still can't believe it, she thought as she stared out of the plane's window. I can't believe I'm back. Her flight was about to land in London and Rachel was picking her up.

Really, she would have been stupid to not take her old Headmaster's offer. First he had explained that he was starting a secret society – the Order of the Phoenix, he called it – to help fight against Voldemort, and he wanted her to join. Without a second thought, she had wanted to join. Even though she had been gone for a year, she was still up to date on the war – she still had a subscription to the Daily Prophet. The only problem was that she did not want to go back to England if she could avoid it. That was when Dumbledore had made his offer – he had pulled a few strings and St. Mungo's had already hired her, paying nearly twice what she was making now.

She couldn't refuse.

The plane landed and Lily breathed easier. She wasn't a big fan of flying, whether it be in an airplane or on a broom. She gathered her things and headed out to the terminal. Shortly after, she heard Rachel call her name. She spun around and flung her arms around her best friend.

"I've missed you so much!" Rachel said as she and Lily pulled apart.

"Me too!"

They made small talk until they were far enough away from the Muggles to Disapparate to Rachel's apartment. She showed Lily to her spare bedroom and helped her with unpack. They made some coffee and sat in the living room.

"So when do you start at St. Mungo's again?" Rachel asked.

"Tomorrow,"

"You know, I'm gonna miss being on the same floor as you."

"I know, we always had so much fun, but I've really grown to love the maternity floor."

"You never told me what made you want to work in that department."

Lily took a sip out of her mug and set it on the coffee table. "When I moved to New York, the only place they where hiring was on their maternity floor, and I was so desperate for a job I was willing to work anywhere. But after a while I really enjoyed it – you know, working with the newborns and new mums. I've already spoken with the Heads of the department here, and they've said that after two weeks, I'm going to be training someone. She's only a few months into her training but has decided to specialize in obstetrical healing, so she'll be under my wing for the next six months."

Rachel laughed. "It'll take you at least three weeks to get your own routine down, so good luck training someone new."

"Thanks, I'm gonna need it."

Rachel was dying to ask Lily something, yet she was unsure how to approach it.

"Lil, you haven't been in contact with any of our other friends, have you?"

Lily pushed a strand of her dark red hair behind her ear. "Remus wrote to me a few weeks after I left, and I've kept in contact with him, but I haven't heard anything from – the others."

Rachel nodded. Lily was still not ready to talk about him yet, and she would give her all the time she needed.

000

Lily had been working in the maternity ward for a little over three weeks. She had delivered thirty–six babies with little complications. All in all, things were going good. She had just finished her latest shift and she and the girl she had been training were on their way out of the hospital. Ashley Miller, a small framed blonde that was a good four inched shorter than Lily, was quite nice, even though she could be a bit – airy – at times. And she loved to talk about her boyfriend, which she had been doing for the past few minutes.

"I'm sorry," Lily said when Ashley took a breath, "What did you say his name was?"

"James, but I always call him Jamie," she smiled as she continued her story.

Lily heart skipped a beat. Surely not, she prayed as they got to the main floor of St. Mungo's. I mean, James is a very common name. She dismissed the idea as quickly as it came.

"Do you have any plans tonight?"

"Well," Lily said, "I'm going to go down to the Diagon Alley and pick up a few quills and some potions ingredients.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you," Lily said as they parted ways.

She walked down to the Leaky Cauldron, which really wasn't too far from St. Mungo's. It wasn't two minutes after she had set foot in the pub when she heard some one call. "It can't be Lily Evans."

Lily froze; she knew that voice. She turned to see none other than Remus Lupin.

"Hey, Remus," she said as she walked across the pub and hugged him.

"I thought I'd heard that you were back."

"Yeah, here I am."

"You staying with Rachel?"

"Yeah, until I can find my own place. So how is everyone?"

Remus paused momentarily before he said, "Great, just great."

Lily nodded. "Well, I'd better get going – it was great to see you again."

"Yeah, you too."

They hugged again before they took their separate ways.

000

Without hesitating to knock, Remus entered James and Sirius's flat.

"Hey Moony," they both replied, each with a bottle of butterbeer.

"You alright?" Sirius asked when Remus as he sat next to him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Well, I kind of did. You'll never guess who I just saw in the Leaky Cauldron."

"Who?" James asked as he raised his bottle to his lips.

"Lily."

James immediately began to choke on his drink. After Sirius gave him a hard thump on the back, James managed to say, "Are you shitting me?"

"No."

James opened his mouth to reply, but someone was knocking at the door. "I'll get it,"

It was Ashley, his girlfriend of four months.

"Are you guys ready?" she asked as she kissed him.

"What?"

"We're all suppose to go out for drinks tonight, remember?"

Of course James remembered. He had been the one who suggested that they, Sirius, and Remus go out so they could get to know Ashley better. Since she and James had started dating, friends had avoided her as much as humanly possible, and it was no secret why. When James and Lily had dated, they had grown to love Lily as a sister and when she had left, they were nearly as crushed as James had been. And they were not about to let some other girl take Lily's place.

"Oh, um, yeah, let's go."

As they all headed out the door, Ashley asked, "Where do you guys want to go?"

Sirius replied, "How about the Leaky Cauldron?"

000

Lily walked back into the Leaky Cauldron, a few shopping bags in her hands. She was nearly half way across the pub when she heard a familiar, bubbly voice say, "Hey Lily."

"Oh, hey, Ashley. What are you doing here?"

"My boyfriend, his friends, and I wanted to go have a drink. Would you like to join us?"

Not wanting to sound rude, she accepted. Lily sent her packages to Rachel's apartment and followed Ashley.

It wasn't until she was a foot away did she recognize Ashley's boyfriend's friends, and now it was too late to run.

"Jamie, I want you to meet the Healer who has been training me."

James tuned to see a woman with unmistakable brilliant green eyes and dark red hair. Lily Evans was standing right beside him.