Chapter 2

Breaking the News

Dawn the next morning saw the Potter sons seated around the kitchen table discussing their sister.

"I guess Lily was really tired after last night's party." This came from a young man who could only be described as his father's son. At 21, Laurence was almost an exact duplicate of his father from the top of his spiky, black hair to the tips of his trainers. Even their height, 6'2 ½", was the same. There were only three distinct differences between father and son. Laurence had his mother's blue eyes rather than his father's green ones, he lacked the scar that made his father famous, and didn't have dad's laugh lines. Laurence worked at Gringotts, the wizard bank.

"Let's hope she sleeps a little longer and wakes up on a good mood," added James. At 22, James resembled his uncles Fred and George. He was taller than most, lanky, and loved a good joke. He had his bright red hair cut so that it stood straight up in little spikes. Standing at only 6'1" he was the shortest as well as oldest of the Potter children. He worked with his uncles full time in their joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Aw, but Lorrie, I thought you liked playing jokes on our baby sister," chimed in Aries.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Why the sudden change of heart?" asked Apollo, Aries' twin. The twins were twenty years old and stood at a gargantuan height of 6'4", which was matched only by their sister. Where Apollo had the light coloring of his mother, Aries had his father's darker looks. They both played professional Quidditch as Beaters for the Irish National Team.

"You forget she's of age now. When she wakes up and sees what we've done to her room, there won't be any way to keep her from hexing us to death," replied James. His brothers quit smiling at the thought.

"Hexing you to death about what?" asked Lily as she came into the room.

"I swear I had nothing to do with it. It's entirely their fault," said James quickly as he pointed to his brothers.

"Hey, it was all your idea," retorted Apollo.

"Yeah, you were the one who said we should redecorate her room," said Laurence, who knew very well what could happen when his sister got mad.

"You messed with her room? I am shocked and appalled," said Aries in a voice that was probably meant to be disbelief but ended up as slightly amused. "I can't believe you would do such a thing!"

"Oh, shut up you prat. You were the one who cast the first spell," said James.

"You were the ones who did that to my room? I never knew you could be so sweet. No girl has a right to be this lucky," she said as her eyes started to water. She hugged her brothers and crossed to the stove deciding she would make breakfast for everyone. She was too busy to notice the worried glances that were exchanged.

"Lily, would you excuse us for a second? We need to check on something," said Aries. The four got up and started filing out of the kitchen.

"If Mum and Dad are awake, can you tell them I need to talk to them?" she asked. When they nodded, she went back to working on breakfast.

"Does she seem odd to you?" Laurence asked his brothers once they were out of earshot.

"It's like she's worried or sad about something," said Apollo.

"How much do you want to bet it has something to do with that arse Aaron," asked Aries.

"I don't know, but whatever is going on with her gives me a bad feeling," said James. His brothers nodded that they felt it too.

When they reached their sister's room on the third floor, they expected to find the room and all of its contents pink, the color Lily hated most. Instead, the room was a million different shades of blue. The four men were so taken aback that they didn't hear their father walk up behind them.

"Why are we all standing out in the hallway?" asked Harry.

"Because yesterday this room was pink. But when Lily thanked us for what we'd done, we had to investigate. So, now here we are standing in the hallway discussing a room that was pink yesterday before the party, but is blue today," answered Laurence matter-of-factly.

"Oh, is that all? Well then, do you mind moving so a guy can use the loo?" Harry asked.

The four shifted so that their father could pass.

"Lily said she needs to talk to you and Mum," said James.

"About what I wonder?"

"No idea. She just asked us to tell you if you were awake."

"Now that you've done it, why don't you go back downstairs before she finds you and kills you?"

The guys took their father's advice and went back downstairs. What they found, once again, served only to confuse them. Lily had cooked a veritable feast for breakfast and had been sure to include each person's favorites.

"What are you up to little sister?" asked Aries

"Why would I be up to something?"

"You hugged us earlier and now you've made breakfast. The only explanations are you're up to something, you want something, or you're an imposter. An imposter wouldn't make it through the door due to the anti-cloaking charms and you're too proud to ask for anything. That only leaves you being up to something. Now, spill it!"

"Can't I just want to be nice for once?"

"No," her brothers answered in unison.

"Well then I'll just take my breakfast outside and think of ways to get back at you since I'm so horrible," she said on the verge of tears again. She quickly picked up a small plate holding a single piece of toast and walked outside, closing the back door quietly.

"Something is definitely wrong here. She hugs us, makes breakfast, and shuts a door without slamming it," said Laurence breaking a sudden and uncomfortable silence. "I think she's ill."

"That's got to be it. Did you see what she called breakfast? A single, un-enhanced piece of toast, when you know as well as I do that she could out eat us all," said Apollo, "and what about those tears? We've never made her cry before."

The brothers all stared at their feet, ashamed of how horrible they must have been and not wanting to even think about what their sister must be going through since it made her cry.

"Where did all this come from?" asked Ginny as she and Harry entered the kitchen.

"Don't look at us! Lily made all of it. You know we're hopeless in the kitchen except when it comes to eating," said James.

"That I do. Is she not joining us?"

"I think we hurt her feelings, so she took a piece of toast and said she'd eat in the garden," Aries answered his mother.

"Well since that's the case, you four will clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes, without magic, after breakfast. Don't even think about making excuses and running off. I know for a fact that all four of you are on vacation this week," said Ginny, in a voice that meant she didn't want to hear any arguments.

"Yes, Mum," her sons replied and sat down to eat their breakfast.

Outside in the garden, Lily sat in the wide porch swing staring at an amulet that hung around her neck. It was a silver ring, about the size of an egg, with words and symbols engraved in it. In the center was a ruby with the Gryffindor crest etched into it.

"La chiave al futuro si trova negli atti del passato," she read.

"It's Italian meaning 'The key to the future lies in the past'."

Startled, Lily looked up to see her father standing beside her.

"Your mother thought it might be easier if we talked and I passed the important stuff along later," he said as he sat down beside her on the swing. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You know how I've been getting a lot of job offers lately? Well, I've finally decided what I want to do. I've already sent in my acceptance so there's no backing out."

"You're worried that your mother and I won't approve aren't you?"

"Yes."

"I don't guess it really matters what we think as long as you believe it the right choice. Why don't you tell me and we go from there?"

"Okay. I've chosen to take a job as an intelligence operative for the International Confederation of Wizards."

"Meaning you'll be working as a spy for the Ministry, right?"

"Actually, the Ministry is more about Muggle-Wizard relations while the I.C.W. is about relations between wizards and protecting the Wizarding world from utter destruction by discovery and dark magic."

"Are you absolutely sure that this is the right choice?"

"I've never been surer about anything in my life, Daddy."

"Then I wish you the best of luck and I hope you know that no matter what, your Mum and I support you."

"Thank you Daddy," she said as she hugged him.

"I'll tell your mother later."

"There's something else…"

"You know that you can always tell me anything."

"Well it's actually a couple of things. The first is that I have to leave for training in two weeks and I won't be able to contact anyone on the outside for two years. The other I want to tell you and Mum at the same time, so it can wait."

"This last bit is really why you're worried, isn't it?"

"More like the large number of trainees who never make it past basic due to casualties."

"I see your point."

"So you're not mad?"

"Of course I'm mad. I can't believe you'd think we wouldn't stand behind your choice no matter what it was."

They sat in silence for a few minutes just watching the clouds roll by.

"Dad?"

"Yeah, Lily?"

"Thanks," she said as she hugged him again.

"Anytime. You know your Mum's got your brothers scrubbing the kitchen because they said they hurt your feelings?"

"Well it serves them right. They did hurt my feelings…Want to go watch?"

"You bet. It's going to be hilarious."

The two got up and went inside to watch the foursome struggle to get the kitchen clean enough to pass their mother's meticulous standards. Breaking the news to Ginny could wait, because they would all need a little laughter to make it through Lily's next bombshell. He knew his daughter well and could read her emotions as if she were shouting them from the top of Big Ben. Whatever she'd already told him would seem like a walk in the park compared to what still remained to be said.