Welcome back, dear readers! Thank you all for reading Lily's Final Gift: Part One and Part Two (fair assumption if you've come to Part Three now). This story will continue with our two POV characters (Lily and James) from Part Two. How James becomes a POV character will be explained sometime during this story. Also, given that I took a lot longer between updates during the second half of Part Two, largely owing to longer chapters, I've decided to keep my chapters short (5,000-6,000 words) and see if that allows me to update faster. Thank you for reading!
Hello everyone, here is chapter one. Readers, please review. Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All (well, most, anyway) characters are from J K Rowling's brilliant best-selling series.
Chapter One
Full Disclosure
"So, Princess – what's on your mind?"
The question jerked Lily out of her reverie, and her eyes narrowed in confusion as she looked at her father. "What d'you mean, Daddy?"
Mr Evans chuckled. "I mean – I was just telling Dahlia about the Hardys… I ran into Stan at the supermarket yesterday, and he excitedly told me that his daughter was expecting…" His grin widened. "I noticed that your eyes were glazed, so I said that Björn Borg is an idiot –"
"Oi!"
"That's the response I expected!" said Mr Evans, his green eyes alight with amusement. "But none came – clearly, your mind is elsewhere… Out with it, then!"
Her mother smiled at her, and said shrewdly, "Daydreaming about James, are we?"
Lily blushed. "How did you –?"
"Oh, please," said Mrs Evans dismissively. "I didn't meet you yesterday, did I?"
"All right, all right…" said Lily. Really, nothing much got by her parents… Besides, she thought, I have a rather expressive face! I wish I could hide my emotions better…
They were sitting at the dining table, with the small chocolate cake crumbs in each of their plates the only evidence of their post-dinner dessert. In truth, Lily hadn't been daydreaming about James per se – it was more about the beautiful ring on her finger, currently under a powerful Disillusionment Charm. It had taken them more than three hours to return to Cokeworth from King's Cross (it would've been longer had it not been for her father's skilful navigation through the London traffic), following which they'd immediately sat down for dinner. It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and Lily was exhausted – but she'd been mulling over whether she should tell her parents about James's proposal now, or if it could wait till the next day. On one hand, the lateness of the hour and their general tiredness made her want to wait, but the fact that she was bursting to show them the ring and how bad they'd feel knowing that she'd waited an entire day to tell them about something so important made her want to tell them now. It was during this internal debate that her father had caught her distraction…
She smiled at her parents as she made her decision at last. "Mum, Daddy – I have something to tell you," she said, her grin widening. She wandlessly Summoned her wand from her bedroom (where she'd kept it with her robes), and lifted the Disillusionment Charm off her ring, and held her left hand in front of her parents, who were observing her silently with growing astonishment. "James proposed to me yesterday," she said softly, her words coming out in a rush. "And – I said yes." She beamed.
"That's – amazing!" her Mum said softly, as her face split into a grin as wide as Lily's. "Congratulations, Princess!"
Both her parents stood up and hugged her. "I was hoping he would, at some point," whispered Mr Evans. "He's an exemplary young man, Princess… You've chosen well! He's much better than that Dursley!"
"Larry," said Mrs Evans reprovingly as they drew back. "Well – this calls for a celebration!" she exclaimed, turning to Lily. "Wow – there's so many things we need to do! We must have them over for dinner soon – maybe this weekend? I dunno what sort of weddings take place in the magical world, but they probably require the same level of planning and logistics – have you set a date yet?" she fired at Lily. "Based on that, we can look at possible venues – do magical weddings take place in a church, too? And what about the food – are there people who specifically cater to magical weddings? What about –"
"Woah, slow down, Mum!" interrupted Lily, holding up her hands. Mr Evans chuckled and said, "Let her breathe, Dahlia – the bloke proposed to her just yesterday, I hardly think she's had enough time to even think about the wedding – let alone plan it!"
"What he said," said Lily, grinning as she pointed at her father. "It's still sort of sinking in!"
"Sorry," said Mrs Evans, smiling as she sat back down at the dining table. "But it is a lot of work, planning a wedding – I should know a thing or two about it now, considering we just planned one a few months ago!"
"The Potters will help, Mum – obviously," said Lily quickly. "We can have them over for dinner, certainly – I'll send James a letter telling him that I've told you, and ask him about this weekend, OK?"
"Perfect," said her mother, satisfied. "So – how did he do it?" she added, a knowing smile on her face. "Did he go down on one knee? Your dad did," she added, winking at her father, who chuckled. Lily went pinker, and said, "Yes – yes, he did. And honestly – I had no hesitation in saying yes! I mean – I don't really see myself with someone else, see? And – I love him!" she added, her face burning – she was sure that it was the same colour as her hair now.
Her parents exchanged a quick glance before Mrs Evans said, "Sweetheart – we're both so happy for you. And that's probably the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. But –" she exchanged another glance with her father, "—don't you think it's a little early for you to be getting married? I mean, you're only eighteen, and you just graduated! You don't have to rush into anything right now…"
Lily sighed. Her mother had given her the perfect opening to bring up the war, but she was too exhausted to talk about it right now. Then again, it didn't make sense keeping her parents hanging… "Well," she said, "I agree with you, it may be a little early… But I do think there is a legitimate reason for it. However, it's a long story, and it's getting late – you both have to work tomorrow, don't you?"
For the past seven years, every time Lily had ridden the Hogwarts Express back to London at the end of the year on a weekday, her parents had taken a day off from their respective jobs, without fail, to greet her at King's Cross. It had almost become a tradition… But tomorrow is Wednesday, she thought. They both leave early…
Noticing her parents' still-expectant faces, she smiled and continued, "Look… I don't mind telling you now, but tomorrow night might be better. What I have to tell you needs to be done due justice, for it's not what I'd call something commonplace… I'd much rather tell you when none of us are too tired," she added, suppressing a yawn behind her hand.
"Fair enough," said Mr Evans, and stood up. He kissed Mrs Evans and Lily on the forehead before saying, "I'm going to hold you to that, darling. Tomorrow night," he reminded.
"Of course, Daddy," she responded with a smile before kissing her mother goodnight. "See you in the morning!" she said, and with a cheery wave at her parents, began to make her way to her bedroom. Of course, I can Apparate there now – but best not startle Mum and Dad with such a blatant display of magic just yet, she thought wryly as she entered her bedroom. She quickly changed into her pyjamas, brushed her teeth and settled herself beneath her comfortable blankets and switched off her nightlamp.
Tomorrow night, then, she thought. She'd bought herself some time to collect her thoughts before having what would be a difficult conversation with her parents… I'll start at the beginning, she resolved. The whole story, right from my first year… I suspect they'll be quite unimpressed with the sheer number of times I was reckless, she thought sardonically. Plus – there's a good chance they'll be upset with me hiding from them the stuff I got up to at school… The memory of their first outing in Hogsmeade (when James had shielded her from Bellatrix Lestrange and her goons) was the last thing she remembered as she fell asleep with a smile on her face.
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Lily spent most of the next morning unpacking and rearranging her bedroom. She wasn't really sure how long she was going to be living there, however… She and James would live together once they got married, that part was obvious, but she had no clue how far down the line that would be. Would it be a month? Or a year, perhaps? I can certainly stay at home until we get married, she thought. The job commute won't be difficult to navigate, certainly… I'm fairly good at Apparition, and most people Apparate to the Ministry, right? Oh – that's if I get the required NEWT grades, she reminded herself, smiling inwardly. She was quite sure she'd managed to do that…
All the same, she concluded that it would be better if she began her preparations now itself to eventually move out. It wasn't that difficult, certainly… Full of fresh energy, she whipped out her wand and began to sort everything she owned into neat piles – books, clothing, stationery, sports equipment (that was the smallest pile with her tennis racquet and trainers), and miscellaneous items. By far, the largest pile was those of her books, and she couldn't bring herself to discard any of them – not even her copy of A History of Magic, which she was certain she would never read again. In the end, she sorted the books based on their requirement likelihood, before moving on to her clothes. She performed a little Charm which allowed her to quickly determine whether a certain item of clothing would fit her now (it sped up the sorting process considerably) before throwing all the clothes she'd outgrown into a separate pile. I love magic, she thought contentedly as she went on to stationery. It would've taken days to get all this done otherwise…
She had lunch alone at one o'clock (her parents were both at their respective workplaces) before returning to her bedroom. She began to replace her clothes that she would continue using into her wardrobe, before conjuring (without much difficulty) a bookshelf for all her books, which she stacked next to her window; it obscured the view of the street by a bit, but since it was a temporary addition to her room, it would do. The pile of discarded clothes lay on her bed, and she threw out the last of the litter from her trunk before moving it to one corner of her room. She stood near the door and surveyed the room with satisfaction; it had taken her the better part of the day, but it was much tidier and better organised, and she could pack all her things and move out in a couple hours if she had to. With a slight smile, she turned to go downstairs for a cup of coffee, but a soft tap on her window made her stop.
A familiar owl was outside her bedroom window, and she opened it with a flick of her wand to let the owl in. "Hello, Seraphina," she said as the beautiful tawny owl perched on her chair and held out one of her legs, on which a letter was tied. She quickly untied it, stroked the owl and said in amusement, "I'm going to tell James not to send you out during the day – when will you get any sleep?"
Seraphina hooted in response, and allowed her to stroke her one more time before zooming off for a quick sip of water from the bowl just outside Cavana's cage. The two owls exchanged greetings (Cavana's was a much softer, sleepier hoot than usual) before Seraphina took off with a final glance at Lily and what seemed surprisingly like a rather dignified nod, as if to indicate that she'd completed her job. Smiling slightly, Lily opened James's letter and began to read.
Dear Lily,
I know it's only been half a day, but I already miss you. Heh – clingy, much? Anyway, if you're free for dinner tomorrow night, let me know, and we could go to that fancy restaurant where Peter will be working after his training with Tom at the Leaky Cauldron. I've been there once or twice, and the food is delicious! If you're available, I'll pick you up at seven o'clock tomorrow.
Anyway, I told my parents about our engagement last night. They're both thrilled with the news – Mum was aware that I'd be popping the question, of course, but the way she hugged me last night, it seemed as though she wasn't entirely sure you'd say yes! Talk about a lack of confidence in her own son! Dad was mighty pleased, too – he said he never had any doubt whatsoever, and he reckons that you're the best thing that's ever happened to me (I agree!).
That said, my parents would like to meet yours formally to discuss the 'union of our two families' (Mum's words, not mine). A weekend works best for them, since Dad's working fairly long hours at the moment, dealing with the aftermath of the attacks last weekend. He also asked me how these things work in the Muggle world – whether a formal invitation is extended by one set of parents to the other, for instance – in which case, he's asked me to hand you one tomorrow, assuming we meet for dinner (if not, I'll just send one with Seraphina). In any case, there's no point in doing that until I know for certain that you've given your parents the news, so confirm that in your response, along with a few potential dates for the formal meeting between our families. We can decide the venue once the date is set.
Hoping to see you tomorrow,
Hugs and kisses,
James
P.S.: We need a faster way to communicate. I can ask Dad if he knows someone who can permanently connect your fireplace to the Floo network – that way, we won't have to wait for hours just for a response!
Lily finished the letter with a smile on her face. It was a bit endearing, really, that he missed her… With a pang, she realised that she hadn't spared him a single thought that day, having been busy re-organising her room. I'll make it up to him, she resolved, glancing at the letter again. Hugs and kisses, she thought, with a little chuckle. That's new… She reflected upon how James usually signed his letters. Last summer, when they hadn't started dating, he'd signed his letters with a simple 'James' or 'Yours affectionately'. They'd hardly written to each other during the Christmas and Easter holidays – having spent so much time with each other, they'd simply Apparated to each other's residences or at a pre-decided meeting spot. Come to think of it, this was probably why she couldn't remember if she'd received any letters from James after last summer…
She re-read the letter, thinking hard. Were there any formalities while meeting the parents? She recalled vaguely that her mother had told her about meeting Vernon's parents to hash out the details of the wedding. Well, they might have to do something similar… As for the venue, she'd already discussed with her parents that it would be best to invite Mr and Mrs Potter for dinner that weekend. Saturday night it is, then, thought Lily, her brow furrowed. And yes, I'd better tell him that I'm available for dinner tomorrow night, too…
She picked up a pen lying on her table (she generally used a pen while writing to her friends over the holidays), grabbed a fresh roll of parchment from her newly-organized cupboard, and wrote:
Dear James,
I didn't miss you at all, sweetie! Haha, got you, I'm only joking, you can close your mouth again (yes, it's become remarkably easy to wind you up!).
I'm available to meet you for dinner tomorrow at that fancy restaurant (what's its name, by the way?). What sort of dress code does it have? Would it require me to wear my dress robes? I ask because that's the only set of non-school robes that I have. Once we get our grades, I'm planning to go to Diagon Alley to buy myself several sets of decent robes which can be worn at the Ministry – don't want to show up there in school robes, do I?
Your parents really are very sweet, and I'm quite flattered with how highly they seem to think of me! I informed my parents about our engagement last night, too, and they're thrilled as well – however, they expressed a (fairly legitimate) concern that you and I might be too young to get married, considering we're both just eighteen. I haven't yet told them about the war, or any of our (mis)adventures over the past seven years. I'm planning to do that tonight at dinner (I may be done by the time you receive this letter), and it's not going to be an easy conversation – but it's something that needs to be done. I'll let you know how it went at dinner tomorrow.
Regarding the meeting of our families, how does six o'clock this Saturday at our house sound? I already discussed this with my parents last night, and they seemed quite keen to meet your parents. Mum was even halfway through planning our wedding before Daddy stopped her – he reminded her that we hadn't even set a date, and that it would be better to hash out the details once we had. We'll need to do that soon – let's discuss that tomorrow, too! As for a formal invitation, I don't know if anything of the sort is necessary, but I'll have a word with my parents about that and we'll take it from there.
See you tomorrow! Let me know about the dress code as soon as you can.
Love,
Lily
P.S.: If you have any more of those Sonraich Owl Treats we usually get in Hogsmeade, please feed a couple to Cavana – I ran out of those yesterday (forgot to restock before we boarded the train, rookie mistake!), and she refuses to eat anything else (yes, she's a moody one). Thanks!
Lily read her letter once before setting down her pen and whistling softly at Cavana, who woke up at once and came to her, showing no signs of her earlier drowsiness. She obligingly held out her leg, and Lily tied the envelope to it with a small piece of string. "Go on, then," she said to Cavana, who nipped her finger affectionately before flying off into the bright, cloudless sky. She watched her owl as it became a tiny speck before disappearing behind a tall tree in the woods just outside of Cokeworth.
Hmm – maybe it's worth going to the tennis courts today to see if there's anyone to play with, she thought. It's such a beautiful day… Making her decision, she proceeded to the kitchen to make and wolf down a couple sandwiches before dashing upstairs to retrieve her racquet and trainers. She returned to the kitchen, made tea and sandwiches for her parents, and Charmed them to remain hot until consumption before leaving her parents a note and stepping out of the house. I need to have my story clear, she thought as she walked, mentally going over what she was going to say to her parents… They're probably going to be furious that I kept all this from them, but it had to be done, she told herself firmly. They'd have worried about me a lot more otherwise, and might have even objected to me returning to Hogwarts every year…
She left a note for her parents and stepped out of the house, locking the door behind her. She walked towards the courts at a leisurely pace, mentally going over what she'd be telling her parents… She'd have to start with who Voldemort was, what he'd been up to over the past few years, all the trouble his followers had caused at Hogwarts (she felt another pang of sadness as she remembered how defeated Emily had sounded, back in her third year, when she'd told her and James how Voldemort had ruined her life), and what she was planning to do now that she'd graduated. It was going to be a long talk…
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"Wow," said Mr Evans, setting down his spoon into his almost-empty bowl of ice cream, "Just – wow."
Mrs Evans only stared in shock at Lily, words clearly failing her. Finally, she seemed to find her voice. "Why," she said softly, "Why didn't you tell us all this earlier, Princess?" She shook her head. "If I'd known the sort of horrors you were getting into –"
"You'd never have sent me to Hogwarts?" interrupted Lily.
Her Mum said nothing, but the silence spoke volumes.
Lily had spoken through the entirety of dinner and dessert; she'd quickly gained her parents' assent to a formal meeting with Mr and Mrs Potter on Saturday night, before beginning to narrate in detail everything she'd decided to tell them about the Wizarding world. To say that they were shocked was a gross understatement; they'd both remained silent throughout her monologue, which had lasted over an hour. She'd cringed inwardly as she'd seen the growing astonishment on their faces as she'd talked about sneaking out of the school into Hogsmeade during her first year (she'd added a brief explanation about Lord Voldemort, his ideals, his agenda, and how he'd plunged the British Wizarding world into war and chaos). That astonishment had slowly given way to dismay as she'd narrated her investigation on the attacks on Muggle-borns in her third year, before changing to shock and consternation by the time she'd described their rescue operation of James's parents in Wales. She'd fought her instinct to stop talking as she talked about her sixth year (which had culminated with her duel with Bellatrix Lestrange), and her seventh year – her Order of the Phoenix training, the 3QT final, and the battle at Carrow Manor culminating with Emily's death. Her parents' mouths were open by the time she'd stopped talking.
"Look," said Lily placatingly, "I know I haven't been completely forthright with you these past several years – but I didn't want you to worry, see? If you'd known all this, you wouldn't have slept even a wink for the entirety of my schooling!"
"So – you decided that ignorance is bliss?" her mother said coolly, her pale blue eyes boring into Lily's emerald green ones. "You unilaterally made that decision for us, without once considering that we had a right to know what was going on in your world?"
"I – I was only trying to protect you –" Lily began, but her father shook her head. "Lily, when someone does something to protect someone else, they're actually only protecting themselves," he said, his voice carrying none of its usual warmth. Lily's heart sank; her father rarely referred to her by name, only doing so when he was angry or disappointed. He went on, "Your intent might have been to protect our feelings, but how could you think we'd be better off not knowing that our own daughter has been in mortal danger not once, not twice, but three times in the past three years?"
"It's the magical world!" Lily exclaimed desperately. "It's not all wonderful and amazing – it's dangerous! But it's just like our world, isn't it? Not everything in our world is wonderful and amazing, either!"
"Yes," said her father, nodding, "Yes, it is – but in it, teenagers barely out of school don't jump right into the middle of a bloody war!"
"Come on, Daddy," said Lily, restraining herself from rolling her eyes with great difficulty, "What happened during World War II? Or even World War I, for that matter? What about the other wars that have taken place around the world, like the Korean and Vietnam Wars? Didn't teenagers get drafted back then?" She abandoned the effort to keep her voice from rising excitedly, and continued, "Didn't you tell me yourself about how proud you were that so, so many people you knew were World War II heroes, that they'd actually survived that ghastly war, and how you'd wished you'd had the chance to fight too, but were too young?"
"That was different!" her father exclaimed. "It was only the eligible men who were drafted –"
Lily stood up suddenly, rage coursing through her veins; she was too furious to recognise that her father's words were coming from a place of worry. "How about I tell you how things are different instead?" she snapped. "The Wizarding world may be backward in several ways – they don't use our arguably more advanced stationery, our electric machines like telephones, washing machines and even something commonplace as bulbs, or even today, even now, the old pureblood families are treated with respect bordering on reverence, while people like me are looked down upon as outsiders by select sections of the Wizarding society. But – when it comes to things like gender equality, it's far more advanced. There's nothing stopping witches from playing Quidditch shoulder-to-shoulder with wizards – there's even an all-witch team in the domestic Quidditch League, and they consistently place in the top three teams around Britain and Ireland." She mentally thanked Liz, James and Sirius for the mountain of Quidditch trivia they'd thrown her way over the past seven years before continuing, "And in battle – witches are as omnipresent as wizards. There's nothing stopping a witch from joining the war – provided she is highly trained in combat – that alone makes her eligible. And that's what I intend to do," she said, her voice full of conviction. "I'm not going to stand aside when creeps like Lord Voldemort walk around wanting to 'purge' the Wizarding world of Muggle-borns, and kill Muggles for fun. No – I'm going to do what I can to stop him, that's for certain. I'm well aware that things have the potential to go horribly wrong – which is why, James and I don't see the point of waiting to get marries, now that we're sure about committing our lives to each other. And if I do die fighting –" she closed her eyes as she shuddered at the possibility, before opening them again and facing her parents squarely, who were both looking at her in shock, "—if I've inspired one, just one more witch or wizard to pick up their wand and fight for what's right, I'll consider my job done. Goodnight."
With that, she turned her heel and marched off to her room, still seething. She only felt a tiny twinge of regret as she entered her bathroom and splashed water all over her face; she rarely lost her temper with her parents, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd yelled at them. Perhaps they'd only served as an outlet to her anger over the war, the state of the Wizarding world, how Muggle-borns like her were still treated, and Emily's death…
She sighed as she got into bed and pulled her blankets over herself. Her parents were only worried about her… She was quite sure that her father hadn't meant to imply that only boys and men could fight wars. To be fair to them, they'd had a ream of information thrown at them that night like a battering ram, and they hadn't even had time to dwell over it before they'd been told that their daughter would be joining the fight in a world they'd believed to be wonderful but had turned out to be every bit as dark and dangerous as their own, if not more…
Yeah, that wasn't very nice of me, she acknowledged regretfully as she wrapped her blankets more snugly around herself. I'm going to apologise to them first thing tomorrow…
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Lily snuck downstairs at daybreak the next day, fully intending to cook breakfast for her parents and have the table ready by the time they woke up. It would be her way to apologise to them for storming off the night before… She felt a slight knot in her stomach as she descended the stairs noiselessly. I hope they forgive me quickly, she thought…
She paused at the bottom of the stairs; she could hear distant voices. No, that couldn't be – but yes, it surely was her Dad's voice! She glanced at the clock on the wall in front of her. 4:26 am. Well, they were up early, too – she wondered why that was…
Still on tiptoe, she walked towards the kitchen door, which was slightly ajar. She hesitated, then took up a position right next to the door, and took a deep breath before beginning to eavesdrop.
"—telling you, it's too dangerous! Ugh – I simply cannot believe that girl… I thought Petunia was the troublesome one, but – Larry, where on earth did we go wrong in raising them?"
There was a pause, and Lily pressed her ear harder on the wall. "We didn't go wrong in raising them, darling," said Mr Evans's voice. He sounded weary. "We did the best we could – and granted, we were unable to help Petunia in getting over her jealousy of Lily's magical abilities – but look at where she is today! She learned independence, she found a bloke who makes her happy, whatever his other faults, and she just got married! She's doing well for herself, I'd say…"
Lily heard her father take a deep breath. "And as for Lily, well… While it is – regrettable – that she didn't tell us any of this sooner, I think she's done enough for us to be immensely – yes, immensely – proud of her. Yes, she's been reckless at times, but you have to admire her sense of deduction – I told you, all those years ago, that getting her those Sherlock Holmes books was a good idea!" He chuckled. "She didn't ask for this, dear… When she embraced the magical world, I'm sure she thought, just like we did, that it was some sort of paradise – a utopia, if you will, with people who could do magic, for Heaven's sake! And while that hasn't exactly been the case, look at what she's done! In everything she told us, once you look past her recklessness and blatant disregard for self-preservation, are examples of her courage, her loyalty, and her skill! She was never afraid to stand up for Severus – yes, I still don't know what happened between them, but she always stood by him, even against her friends at times. She has the potential to be a master tactician, too – against a tough opponent who kept disappearing, she simply let loose a huge ring of fire and pinpointed his location for James to finish him off! And you and I both know she doesn't like broomsticks – rather ironic, considering the stereotypical witches in our stories – but she flew for three hours to Wales, and used that same fire Spell which was well beyond her capabilities back then to buy time for James to rescue his parents! I'm telling you, darling – we raised her just fine!" There was a distinct note of pride in his voice.
Tears came to Lily's eyes. Had her father forgiven her for all she'd said last night, then?
"Keep your voice down, Larry, you'll wake her up," advised Mrs Evans. "All right, all right… Fine, I guess we didn't mess up somewhere along the way. It's just – she's barely eighteen, and she's going off already – getting married so early, fighting a war – I'm telling you, she wouldn't even be thinking of these things if it hadn't been for this beastly war!"
"You're quite right," said Mr Evans, "But look at it this way. From whatever little she's told us about this Lord Vol-whatever bloke, it seems like he's a racist, power-hungry misanthrope. Quite like Hitler," he added. "And what sort of mood had gripped the country during World War II? We all wanted to destroy Hitler and everything he stood for, didn't we? Well, then – consider it a bit like that for our Lily. All she wants is to carve out a place for herself in the magical world, and here's a tyrant who wants to kill people like her – just because of who they are. If you were in her place, wouldn't you be equally motivated to oppose this bloke, especially if you could do something about it?"
There was another long pause, following which Mrs Evans said, in a tired and defeated voice, "I know, Larry, I know… But she's just eighteen!" Her voice broke, and Lily couldn't resist a peek through the half-open door, her heart pounding. She saw her father hugging her mother comfortingly, and tears began to flow down her cheeks, too…
"I know, dear," said Mr Evans softly. "But – she's an adult, in our world as well as hers. We can't stop her, and I highly doubt that she won't join the fight if we forbade her – she's as stubborn as her mother –" Mrs Evans chuckled wetly as she drew back, "—and besides, she'll just vanish, and we'll never hear from her again. Is that what you want?"
"No, of course not!" exclaimed Mrs Evans.
"Then let us support her," said Mr Evans firmly. "She may be too young, darling, but she's proven to be precocious – I have no doubt she'll become a formidable fighter, and with James by her side, they'll be a force to be reckoned with."
"The jury's still out on that one," said Mrs Evans. "They're just teenagers, after all… But you're right, Larry. It's her choice, and she's chosen the noble path – the harder one, indubitably, but she's trying to do the right thing. I suppose we should trust her judgement."
"Took me all night to convince you, but I got there in the end," said Mr Evans dryly, and Lily raised her eyebrows as she wiped her eyes. Really, her parents hadn't gone to bed at all? Today was Thursday, not Saturday…
"I'm going to call in sick today," continued Mr Evans. "I'm exhausted, and spending the day lazing around in bed – the firm can get by without me for a day."
"You're vice-president."
"Vice," emphasised Mr Evans. "C'mon, darling – let's go to bed, it's been a long night. You don't have any classes today, do you?"
"No – but tell me, how will Lily feel when she wakes up and comes down – with no food or coffee on the table? She'll worry that we're ill or something!"
"We can leave her a note. I'll do that – you go on up, I'll join you in a bit."
"All right, then."
Lily watched her father kiss her mother on the forehead, and fled as she saw her mother approaching the kitchen door; she didn't want to get caught eavesdropping. A whole host of emotions ran through her as she ran up the stairs on tiptoe… She was happy and pleased that her parents were proud of her, but she felt even more guilty at how she'd gone off on them the night before. She seemed to have made quite an impression on her father… Granted, her parents were worried, but she knew that he understood. Mum will come around eventually, she thought, feeling another pang of guilt as she thought about the emotions she'd be putting them through once she joined the fight…
I'll tell them more at lunch, she resolved. I'll go down in half an hour, make breakfast and wait for them… I'll cook lunch, too, and when they're fresh, I'll tell them that I do plan to work in the Magical Research Office while learning to fight some more, 'coz while we managed to survive that little skirmish at Carrow Manor, the gap between our skills and theirs is still too large. We're not good enough to fight right now…
There was a warm feeling in her heart, however, as she settled back into bed, fully intending to catch another hour of sleep before getting up. Her Dad believed in her! Her parents were going to support her! Granted, they weren't happy about it, but they weren't going to stand in her way, either… I have a lot to tell James at dinner tonight, she thought. A lot…
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Author's Note:
The pacing of this story is likely to be slower than the first two parts, because there are a lot of gaps from the time Lily and James graduated from Hogwarts to the time they died. I shall try and fill up those gaps as much as possible – we don't know a lot from canon, so there's a lot of space for me to explore creatively. That's part of the reason I decided to revert to smaller chapters!