AN: Please review, they make me very happy. Also, things might not be 100% realistic in this chapter, but keep in mind that this story takes place in the 1980s, Lily is accustomed to the wizard's way of doing things and this is a fanfiction.
James interlocked his hands with Lily's as they approached the Potter house. It had been ages since they went back home, but Charles was constantly abroad. New responsibilities came with his position, that included contacting and meeting with foreign dignatiaries. Tonight, was celebrating his return to England after three months away. Almost all of the Order would be there, along with their families and Ministry employee's that were sympathetic to the cause.
"Do I look good?" Lily asked as they halted in front of the house. The pair had apparated, a bit out of practice to coming to this specific location, so they ended up down the street.
"Ravishing…"
"James," she squealed as she kissed her neck. "Saying I want a family does not give you permission to-"
He silenced her with a kiss. "I know, I know, it's just things are finally beginning to feel normal again. We should probably be worried, but…"
"We're adjusting to the chaos, now come on." She tugged him towards the door and they walked right in. As they moved toward the noise of voices Lily felt something hit her legs and looked down. "Mopsy."
"Oh! It's been so lonely here Miss Lily! Now Mr. Charles is back! So is Mr. Sirius and Mr. James!" The house elf pulled away and did a little dance. "I know you're not staying, but things haven't been the same since Miss Aggie…"
"I know," James replied sadly. "Thanks for holding down the fort." He smiled at the creature before pulling Lily towards all the people. They immediately took drinks from their position on a table.
"Mrs. Potter, may I have a word?"
The couple turned towards an elderly man in sweeping robes. James squeezed her shoulder. "Good evening professor," James said politely, then turned to Lily, "I'm going talk to Padfoot, I saw him around here somewhere."
As he walked away, Dumbledore smiled. "I want you two to realize I'm not your teacher anymore. Call me Albus, or at the very least Dumbledore, that's what they all call me behind my back."
"Of course, Albus." Lily took a quick drink, hoping that the beverage was alcoholic (it was) before crossing her arms.
"Well, I was consulting with some of my acquaintances and they need a qualified person to work for them. You could consider it a long term Order mission."
"What exactly is it?" Lily tilted her head.
"Well, I have muggle contacts as you may guessed. One of them is a director for a clinic near where there has been quite a bit of unexplained activity of the magical variety...Having someone from the Order there would be most beneficial."
"Why me? I'm hardly the most qualified, why not one of the Prewett's or even Luke." At that her eyes shifted to the man who was busy entertaining Arthur's oldest two sons by throwing food in the air and catching it in his mouth. "Forget the last suggestion."
"Your mother was a nurse, correct?"
"Yes."
"You had aspirations to be a Healer?"
"Yes."
"The job is at an emergency medical clinic. The director knows that I help coordinate volunteers and thought I might know someone that won't shy away from the work they do. That will be willing to jump into the deep end."
Lily stood there open mouthed, flattered that she came to the Headmaster's mind. Her whole life she dreamt of going into the medical field, it was only recently she switched. But then again, she hadn't entirely. Most of her free time was spent pouring over books and she was always the first one summoned after a mission gone bad. "I would love to do it, I want to discuss it with James first, but it's fairly definite."
"Of course, it will be in a Muggle clinic, but I think you will pick up knowledge that will come in handy."
"Yes, I'm always telling Order members that they rely too heavily on magic."
"Fear of the unknown can turn much too quickly into hatred." The professor smiled. "Sorry, for monopolizing your time, I'll let you get back to your husband."
Lily just smiled and swirled her drink around in her glass, things were going well after all.
It was a week later when Lily pinned back the hair that framed her face. James leaned against the doorframe as she pulled her loose locks into a ponytail, smirking when he realized she was acting exactly the same way she did before her St. Mungo's uniform. "Do I look like a muggle?"
"Yes." He held out his arms to her. "I like you better in my clothes, though."
She rolled her eyes as she tried to straighten her shirt and looked down at her slacks. "I'm not going to be tracking Death Eaters through the forest or on a stake out, I'm going to be in an office."
"I know." He kissed her her forehead, already being yelled at once for smearing her lip gloss. "So are you going to be working today or is it an interview?"
"Working, I think."
"I'll be with Peter today, I don't know exactly what we're doing, but don't wait up." He rested a hand on her cheek. "I love you."
"I love you, too." She kissed him this time and hugged him tighter. "Be safe, promise you'll come home."
"I promise, don't worry." When they pulled away, James reached for her hands. "I will always find a way to come back to you."
Lily squeezed her eyes shut and tugged her hands free. Ever since she went back on missions after her miscarriage, her and James were always together. They were a great team and he got injured far less when he was with her. "If I'm working, I'll be home about five, so I'll be here to patch up any injuries."
"Go." It was his turn to roll his eyes as he watched her grab her purse, stash her wand inside and then grab her peacoat. With a sigh he left the bathroom and collapsed on the couch, waiting for his friend to come.
Meanwhile, Lily was navigating her way through London after apparating. Glancing down at her wristwatch she saw she was five minutes early when the building came into view. It was two stories and greyish blue. Outside there was a wooden sign framed by neatly trimmed bushes that were covered in snow. With a deep breath she clutched her purse tightly and power walked inside.
The clinic was basically empty. No one was in the waiting room yet and behind a counter stood a woman with black hair wearing pink scrubs. She glanced up at her before gesturing to someone in a white a coat covering blue scrubs. "If it's not an emergency, appoinments don't start for another hour, even walk ins," the man said.
"Oh, my name is Lily Evans." She smiled at the man and held out a hand. It was Dumbledore's suggestion to use her muggle name, as it may be more recognizable. When the man looked at her with confusion she pulled away.
"I see, nice to meet you. Are you here to sell something or visit someone."
"I have an interview today with the clinical director."
"Oh," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Steve told me about you, he said you would start today." The man scanned her quickly. "Listen, maybe you should come back. This place is going to be packed in forty five minutes I don't have time to train someone like you."
The man turned around and Lily did her best to keep her mouth from dropping. Someone like you...Her hands balled in anger, as she told herself he was a muggle... "Why?"
The man turned on his heel, raising an eyebrow at her after exchanging a look with the woman in pink scrubs. "I'm sure that you're perfectly smart, that you aced biology and chemistry…"
She decided it would be best not to tell him that she had never taken those subjects.
"But I was promised someone that was mature and experienced, okay? I don't need someone whose squeamish at the sight of blood…" He looked down at his watch. "Steve had an unexpected conference come up and he left me in charge, I have enough on my plate." The man turned away from her. "Angie, I need to go to the hospital real quick to grab those files with the information about the temp nurses. I'll be back in fifteen." He turned his attention back to Lily. "Actually, could you stay here until I get back? I assume you can answer phones."
Lily looked at him incredulously, but the nurse tossed him keys and he raced out of the clinic. With a huff Lily attempted to control her anger as she looked at Angie. "Is he always that dreadful?"
"He's one of the best doctors we have on staff," the nurse retorted. "Now, I'm supposed to take inventory, one of our nurses is sick, can you watch the phones and the front desk?"
Biting her lip Lily went behind the counter and took a seat at the desk. Time seemed to tick slowly as she let her emotions subside. The peace, though, was quickly shattered. "Can someone help?" a woman's voice called. Before long two people emerged from the hallway, one was a blonde woman supporting a man who was clearly hurt.
"Angie!" Lily shouted. "Come quick!" She quickly went to the other side to help support him, guiding them both down the hall and finding an exam room. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"It was a motorcycle accident, my neighbor called me just before I got in my car to leave for work."
"Okay, what's your name?"
"Tina, his name is John."
"Tina, I know it's hard but I need you to relax." Lily looked down at the man. "John, can you hear me? My name is Lily, I'm going to be helping you today."
"Yeah…" his voice was raspy. "It's my legs and my…"
"How did you get here?"
"I drove him, I couldn't wait for an ambulance."
"Alright…" Lily looked around the room for supplies. "Angie!" she shouted louder as she walked across the room to get supplies. She was helping to stop the bleeding from his head when the nurse came in.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. "Get away from the patient, now."
"Broken leg, multiple contusions, possible internal injuries and likelyhood of a concussion," Lily rattled off. "I called for you."
Angie turned her attention to the patient, then looked at Lily. "Don't just stand there, scrub up, take care of her," she lowered her voice at that, "then page the doctor and come back, now."
Lily did as she said, cleaning the blood off her hands as she prepped. The next few moments passed in a whirlwind, before long Tina was quieted, filling out paperwork. She was wearing gloves, helping Angie and John was beginning to stabilize. It was in the middle of this that the Doctor reappeared, looking at her in surprise. "I'll go back…"
About forty minutes later an ambulance arrived to transport John to a hospital. The doctor looked at Lily, then at Angie. "Can you get her some scrubs? She can't go around the rest of the day covered in blood."
"The rest of the day? I thought I was leaving."
"Do you have somewhere to be?"
"No."
"Listen, I have to admit I misjudged. Now, I really should be lecturing you for breaking procedures, potentially putting yourself and the clinic at risk, but you covered our arses today. We're way too understaffed at the moment and the next nurse can't make it in until ten-thirty."
"Alright."
The doctor's lips quirked up in an imitation of a crooked smile. "Where'd you learn how to do all this?"
"What do you mean? I screwed up, I didn't-"
"Most doctors in their residency can't handle blood like that, I almost threw up the first time I saw something like that."
Lily bit her lip and considered what to tell him. Saying, 'Oh, I fight the Dark Lord on weekends, it's not big deal,' or, 'my husband and his friends come home looking much worse' didn't sound like the right thing to say. "I was a Prefect when I was at school, I got used to handling stressful situations and you know teenage boys."
His eyebrows furrowed. "Football accidents aren't like that, I played in a league for years."
"Boarding school can be brutal." Lily turned and walked toward Angie who was coming out of a supply closet. After taking the scrubs, she turned around to see the doctor's eyes on her. She never did learn his name.
She ended up leaving late. The first thing she did was take a shower, then do a cleaning spell to get the blood out of her clothes. Angie had given her cleaning instructions for the best way to get blood out of clothes, but of course it was a muggle technique. Molly, though, had taught her the a fantastic spell that worked nine times out of ten. After that she ate a plate full of biscuits and a pot full of tea. Then, she crawled in bed in one James oversized t-shirts. It was about nine when she drifted to sleep.
"Love?" She heard. It was just after midnight when she opened her eyes and she saw James in boxers and an undershirt. "How was your day?" He folded himself around her in attempt to get warm.
"It was good." She didn't want his front against her back so she rolled over, sliding her arms under his. Now they were face to face. "This guy was a complete arsehole to me."
"I'll beat him up." James leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers. "How could anyone be mean to you?"
"He took one look at me and thought I was completely clueless, but I proved him wrong."
"Of course you did." He brushed her hair behind her ear, it was still damp from the shower. "I am so proud of you."
"Where did that come from?"
"You're happy," he said. "I always thought you'd become a Healer."
"I'm a nurse's assistant at some understaffed emergency clinic, that's not exactly monumental."
"Lily…" James kissed her. "Yes, it is."
"How was today?"
"Let's not talk about it." He held her tighter and laid there in silence before sleep claimed them.