Chapter 3

The Ministry and the Prophecy

The day passed in peace and quiet. Well, as peaceful and quiet as it could be with all five children home. After having to scrub the kitchen, the four boys were careful of making a mess and what they said within earshot of their sister.

After lunch, Harry and Ginny disappeared upstairs. All five children shared matching grins over what they were pretty sure was happening. It was only about ten minutes later, however, when Harry came back downstairs with a large wet spot on his left shoulder.

"Lily, can you come upstairs please?" asked Harry. The boys, who had been playing Exploding Snap, looked up to see their sister nod, get up from the couch where she'd been reading the latest issue of The Daily Prophet, and follow their father back upstairs.

"Think it has anything to do with what she and Dad were talking about in the garden?" asked Aries.

"Whatever it is, it's got Mum upset," replied Laurence.

"If it's something we need to know, they'll tell us," said James.

"Yeah, but not knowing is driving me crazy," said Apollo. "Want to go try and listen in on them?"

"It's been charmed so we can't," said Laurence without looking up from his cards.

"How would you know?" asked Apollo.

"Mum and Dad always charm their room when they talk to us individually."

"You guys always knew what they said to Aries and me."

"They'd already had the exact same talks with us," Laurence said, finally looking up from his cards. "Don't tell me you actually thought you were the only ones with hormones?"

At Apollo's blush, his older brothers started laughing.

"Wait, what about Lily? I don't remember her ever having a talk with Mum and Dad," said Aries.

"Aunt Hermione took care of it because Mum couldn't stop crying long enough."

"Can we stop discussing Lily and hormones at the same time? I like pretending she doesn't know about the birds and the bees," said James with a frown.

"But she's engaged to be married," Apollo said, his grin stretching from ear to ear. "Surely you must have noticed with the way she was practically floating Christmas before last and then this year she stayed at school over the holidays."

"Actually, Aaron broke it off at the end of last year," said Laurence. Lily had always confided in him some of her inner most secrets.

"How do you know?" asked Aries.

"Call it gut instinct, if you will." He was not about to tell them that Lily had told him. "How about we get back to the game while the cards are being so nice?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth when the cards exploded.

While her brothers, unbeknownst to Lily, were discussing her, she was working up the courage to tell her parents about her visit to the Ministry the year before.

"You have to promise not to get mad or interrupt," Lily said to her parents.

"Lily," her father said in a warning voice.

"Promise me!"

"We promise dear. Now go ahead and say whatever it is you have to say," said her mother.

Lily looked at her father. When he nodded, she took a deep breath and began her story.

"I had already started getting job offers when I got a letter from Minister Scrimgeour's office. He was offering me a job as a Ministry Liaison to Bulgaria and was 'requesting' my presence at the Ministry the following day to discuss it. The letter also said that I could bring others with me if I wanted. All I had to do was give their names to Professor McGonagall. Clayton and Andrew had detention with Professor Sprout for nicking Bubbotubers so Aaron went with me. I really didn't want to go by myself.

When we got there, the Minister was waiting for us with a pale man named Boris Segur, one of the Assistants to the Bulgarian Ministry. I had such a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach that I wanted to go ahead and decline the offer and get out of there as soon as possible. Aaron must have sensed my uneasiness because he took my hand and smiled at me. Every time I opened my mouth to try and decline either the Minister or Mr. Segur would say something and go on about another topic. I finally got tired of it and interrupted saying thank you for the offer, but that it really wasn't the job for me. That's when Mr. Segur actually looked at me. He asked how I could possibly know until I had talked to some of the people in the Liaison Office. I told him that it didn't feel right. He just smiled and turned back to the Minister.

I could tell right then I wanted nothing to do with this man. The way he smiled froze me to the bone. His teeth were unnaturally white and pointed and his eyes were glowing red.

We had been walking up to this point and now we stopped in front of a large blue door. We went inside and I got to talk to several people from different countries about their jobs and how much fun it was to go to a different country and meet new people. We had been there almost an hour when Uncle Percy came in to tell the Minister that someone was there to see him."

"How did he look? Percy…how did he look when you saw him?" asked Ginny.

"He looked tired and sad, a little thin and really worn down. To be honest, I think he was ill…He asked about you too. I told him you were well and happy. He smiled at that."

Her mother smiled. "Go ahead and finish what you were saying."

Lily took another deep breath and continued her story.

"The Minister excused himself and said that Mr. Segur would answer any questions and show us out when we were finished. I talked to the last couple of people in the office and we left.

I didn't pay any attention to where we were going until Aaron said something. Segur turned and said that we should have gone far enough. He flicked his wand and bound Aaron with ropes, and then he turned to me and said 'Show me your power Keara.' I told him I didn't know what he was taking about, but he just laughed and tightened the ropes around Aaron. 'Show me your true power or the boy will be crushed,' he said.

I could hear the ropes tightening and suddenly I felt this…force flow through me. I reached out a hand towards Segur and his wand flew out of his grasp straight into mine. I looked at Aaron and the ropes vanished. When I turned back to Segur, he started screaming in pain.

I must have fainted because the next thing I knew I was in the hospital wing and two days had passed since the incident. Madam Pomfrey released me once she was sure I was all right. I went right away to find Aaron and ask him what had happened because I wanted to know what been done to Segur. I found him in the library working. I walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder. When he looked up, I saw him flinch.

He said, 'The engagement is off,' just as calm as you please.

When I tried to ask him why he said, 'Stay away from me you freak,' got up, and walked away. He spent the rest of last year and all of this one avoiding me or making jokes about how horrible I was. He even started a rumor that the only reason I got good grades was because I bribed the professors. No one believed it but it still hurt. I tried to return his ring twice but he sent the notes back unopened. I've only told Clay, Andrew, and now you two what happened. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Will you forgive me?"

"Why would you even need to ask such a thing? Of course we forgive you for not telling us," said her mother as she pulled Lily into a fierce hug.

"Dad? You've been awfully quiet," said Lily after a few minutes.

"I'm trying to suppress the urge to kill that little ferret, Aaron, after the way he treated you."

"I would really appreciate that since I'm still in love with him."

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking Lily straight in the eyes. When she only returned his stare, he let out a large sigh. "You know your own heart better than I do. I guess I have no choice but to let him live."

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Harry, I think it's time we told her," said Ginny quietly to her husband.

"Yes, you're right." Harry, who had been standing by the door, crossed the room to sit on Lily's right, sandwiching her between her parents. "The day you were born, I got a letter from one of my old professors. She wrote about a vision she had when she met a man named Boris Segur, the very same man that you met. She wrote that she thought it odd to see something about a girl named Lily when talking to Segur. She said she just put it out of her mind and went about her business. When she found out we were expecting a girl, she wrote immediately. The vision she saw was actually a prophecy. It said that the daughter of the Blood Traitor and the Chosen One would be the reincarnation of Keara, a powerful witch who went against the wishes of everyone she loved to stop an uprising of wizards who wanted to destroy all Muggles. In the end, she succeeded, but her family and the man she loved turned their backs on her calling Keara a traitor to her magical heritage. She was the first blood traitor. Today, all pureblood Wizarding families are connected by blood and marriage. The Weasleys are considered to be the greatest blood traitors to date because although they are purebloods, they embrace Muggles rather than detesting them and have been for centuries.

The prophecy also said that a successor would arise with the power to finish what was started in the uprising, power far greater than what Voldemort possessed. Only Keara's reincarnation would have the strength to stop him, but first she would have to give her heart freely and accept another's, also freely given, in return. Only then would she reach her full potential."

"Why am I only finding out about this now?" asked Lily.

"Because we never thought it was the right time to tell you about the battle in store for you," answered her father.

"We were only trying to do what we thought was best," added her mother, who was trying not to cry.

"That explains why going into the I.C.W seems like the right thing to do. I need to prepare all I can for what's coming," said Lily.

"Are you going to tell your brothers about going away," asked Harry.

"Yeah, but let's leave the other alone for now. I don't want to upset them anymore than I have too."

"Want me to come with you?"

"No, I can manage." Lily got up, gave her parents a reassuring smile, and went downstairs. She had barely shut the door when she heard her mother begin to cry.

As she walked down the stairs, she prepared herself as one might before facing a firing squad. She squared her shoulders and resigned herself to the inevitable.

At the bottom of the stairs, she cleared her throat to get their attention and nodded towards the kitchen before walking off and leaving them to follow. While she waited for them she made a pot of tea and poured herself a cup.

Once they were all gathered around the old, scarred table, she told her brothers about her decision and what details she thought they needed to know. When she was finished no one was smiling. Her brothers didn't ask questions; they just stared at her in varying stages of anger.

It was Laurence who broke the silence. "Good luck, be safe, and come home soon."

Lily smiled as her other brothers nodded their approval at the sentiment.

The days passed quickly for the Potters. The night before she was set to leave, the whole family gathered again and threw her a going away party. The next morning at eight o'clock, she reported to headquarters. They assigned her to a training squad and sent her and her new classmates, by Portkey, to what would become their home for the next few years.