Lily met with Scorpius again that night. When she slipped into the room she spied Scorpius standing against the windowsill, looking over a letter. A light was emanating from his wand, illuminating the parchment. He did not look up when she walked in.
Lily cleared her throat.
He started, relaxing once he realized who she was.
"What have you got there?" She asked.
"A letter."
"Anything interesting?" She walked quietly over to him.
"It's a hisser."
"Hah. I should have guessed. Who'd you piss off this time?" He stared at her before answering.
"Your mother."
Lily went pale.
"Damn it."
"It could be worse."
"Oh really?"
"It could have been your father," he pointed out. "Or a howler."
"True. May I?"
Scorpius handed the letter over to Lily. She tapped it with her wand and the ink moved, pooling at the center of the paper where it moved and rearranged until it formed the image of her mother. And then it began to speak in her voice.
"Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy!" It was not the screaming of a howler, but the soft, quiet, poisonous hiss that her mother's voice became when she was dangerous. It did not convey emotion, only the subtle sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong. Lily thought that perhaps she had learned the trick from Professor Severus Snape. She had obviously never met him, but her family had spent a large amount of time making fun of him as a teacher, and the way when he spoke was often referred to.
"I don't know what she sees in you," the letter continued, "Although I admit that this is in part due to the fact that our families do not have a history of agreeing with one another. For this reason, and because I trust my daughter's judgment of the value of your character, I will allow you two to handle the parameters of your relationship as you both shall see fit. My husband does not know, and he will not be informed unless the two of you choose to do so yourselves. Just remember this - I have eyes and ears all over the school. And if I find out you do anything, and I mean anything, to hurt my daughter..."
Lily cringed as her mother's voice got exceedingly quieter, until it was barely more than a venomous whisper.
"I'll tell my mother."
The ink re-formed into words written on the page, and her mother's signature graced the bottom. Lily looked back up at her boyfriend.
"That was quite an interesting threat," he muttered. Lily snorted.
"You've never met my grandmother."
Dumbledore's Army had agreed to meet twice per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the Room of Requirements at three o'clock. At the second meeting they had made a list of characteristics required of potential new recruits; at the third they had drawn up a contract that Rose jinxed - an idea she had acquired from both her mother and her knowledge of the Fidelius charm - so that those who signed it could not reveal information regarding the group without falling under an immediate spell of unknown properties. Despite Hugo's immense curiosity and insistence that he be involved, Rose refused to tell anyone about the nature of the jinx, and only offered one piece of advice - that no one tell others about the group once they signed the contract.
It was at the fourth meeting that they made a list of people that they all trusted - mostly Griffindor and Ravenclaw, although a few names present were Hufflepuff - and decided who would approach each of them with an offer to join Dumbledore's Army. Most of them were the offspring of children from the original Army, although a few new names came from purely Muggle families. In the end they had a list of twenty-three names including their own, and consented to have everyone sign by the end of the sixth meeting.
Having covered all important maters regarding the Army, the group disbanded and left the room in pairs to go get dinner at the Great Hall. Lily and Lysander were the last to leave, and upon walking away the door to the Room of Requirements melded back into the large gray bricks that made up the wall.
"So," Lysander started, "Have you talked to him yet?"
"No," Lily sighed.
"Lily, you only have two weeks until the party. You have to invite him!"
"I don't have to invite him, he's already coming."
"Stop being so difficult!" Lysander chastised her. "You need to go with him. Out in the open! It'll be good for you."
"You keep saying that," Lily muttered.
"That's because I mean it." The tone of his voice was sincere, and Lily was first to back down.
"Fine then. Fine. I'll talk to him later."
"Good. Now that that's been settled, what are you wearing?"
"Er..." Lysander grabbed her arm, pulling her aside to the edge of the corridor.
"You still don't know?"
"I know, I know! I just... haven't gotten around to it yet."
"Yeah, that's it. We're going to Hogsmeade this weekend."
"No, Xander - "
"Yes. We're getting you a bloody cute dress and that is that!"
October 5th, 2023 - 7:43 P.M.
Neville Longbottom was the first to show. He apparated into the graveyard, absorbing the silence for a moment before he followed the path that lead out. He knew his way; he had been to the Potter's residence even as a child. Many a wizard had. It was Harry, of course, who decided to fix the house after he proposed to Ginny. It had been kept as it was the night of Lily and James' death for over two decades. It stood as a reminder to the wizarding world and all who visited of the power that darkness held, and of the power of love, the ability of sacrifice to save another life.
After Voldemort fell, Harry decided that it would be far more damaging to his image to rebuild the part of the house that had been destroyed, rather than to leave a reminder of the destruction he had wrought upon the entire world. He had spoke for a considerable length about it with Ginny, who had agreed with him. Raising their family, loving one another in the house where love had shown its true power, was far superior to letting darkness remain in a world where it was no longer relevant.
And so rebuild they did.
Harry and Ginny had decided to be honest with their children from the beginning, and so no one ever questioned the sign in the front yard that was covered in writings and well-wished from Harry's supporters. After moving into the house, the people who came went from writing on the sign to bringing notes to the door. Though the couple tired of the constant stream of visitors, they received them all with grace and Ginny always had something prepared for unannounced guests. Sometimes when things got too complicated, the family would spend a few days at the Burrow, or perhaps with Bill and Fleur at their place. No matter what was going on, the Weasley family always had room for more.
This night was different, of course. Everyone who still had their coin from the D.A. days received an owl with one simple message - Godric's Hollow - and a slightly more informative version containing the date and time was sent to everyone else - fifteen members of the Weasley family no longer in school, Victoire and Teddy Tonks, Aberforth Dumbledore, Hestia Jones, Hagrid, and Kingsley.
And so it came to be that forty people were crammed inside a cottage in Godric's Hollow.
"All right, I need everyone to shut up or I'll hex you all!"
"It's true," Harry said, laughing. "She's got a mean bat-bogey."
After a bit of hollering and laughing, everyone quieted down.
"Okay, so I'm going to explain everything, but I need everyone to remain quiet through the entire thing. I'll explain as much as I can and take questions at the end."
"And if you speak out of turn I'll hex you," Ginny said, only partially kidding as she twirled her wand between her fingers.
"Aye, she's a keeper, Harry," Bill yelled.
"Hey!" She pointed her wand at his chest as he slid his hands into the air defensively.
"Mister Potter!" McGonagall yelled. "The less time I have to be away from my school the better. Do go on."
"Right," he said.
