Call Me Home

Chapter Two

Chance Encounters

A soft cloud of smoke breezed out of James' office window as he stood looking out over the crowded magical street that was Diagon Alley, a half-smoked muggle cigarette in his hand. Alison hated the habit and had made sure to tell him so at every available opportunity until he had snapped and told her the reason as to why he smoked. He smoked because it reminded him of Albus, it gave him a sense that he was still holding onto his baby brother.

He even smoked the same brand that his brother had.

He knew it seemed petty and childish but it was something he needed, and seeing as he was a wizard who could simply take a potion to clear his tar-stained lungs every few months there was no lasting harm done to his body. Alison had thankfully let the matter rest after that, though her crisp green eyes had seemed to look at him with an air of sadness for the remainder of the day following their confrontation.

She had been thrilled when he had finally given up his quidditch career, which had often entailed him spending weeks abroad and wasn't much of a lifestyle for a man with two young sons. Trystane James Potter was now seven and growing like a reed. There was just a six month age gap between Trys and his niece – and goddaughter – Aurora Potter, but the children rarely saw each other because of the extremely strained relationship between James and Cassiopeia. James had never truly been able to connect with his brother's widow because of how much guilt he held whilst for her part, Cassiopeia couldn't bring herself to fully accept the man who had killed her husband, even though she knew that Albus had begged James to kill him for the sake of their world.

It had been because of his son and niece that James had given up his place as seeker for Puddlemere United, when Trystane had been three he had missed his son's birthday because he had been playing for England in the World Cup. It had been the highlight of his career but he had come to realise that it was more important to be there for his family than for him to be a famous quidditch star. He knew he had made the right decision when a year later Alison had given birth to his second son, Daniel Albus Potter. Alison had raised her eyebrows at his choice of middle name but had let it be, despite Albus' actions she knew he had been a good man before being pushed over the edge.

It had come as a surprise when he had applied for a position with the Auror Department – they were much better under Kingley than they had ever been when he had been an auror under Ronald Weasley – he had been approached by the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Hugo Malfoy, to take on a new project that the Ministry was working on. The idea had actually come from the muggle world and what Hugo claimed was called "Scotland Yard." He had expressed interest and thus the Order had been reformed, not as the militant resistance force that it had been during The Second War but as an organization that policed the police so to speak.

He quite enjoyed the job, even though his mother and wife often complained about how dangerous it was for him to be the director of their world's only law enforcement and investigation organisation. Ghost Division was a very secret department, and whilst he was aware of their existence he left most of the dealings with that department to Hugo for him to deal with.

His agents considered him to be the "coolest boss" they had ever worked under and he sometimes saw their point. James didn't enforce the use of wizarding clothing amongst his agents and was quite prone to coming to work in his jeans, combat boots and a formfitting shirt most days. This was because he worked for efficiency rather than formality. As a father himself he often encouraged his agents to make use of their family time, didn't often begrudge them leaving early and as long as they got the job done he would often overlook minor lapses in their behaviour. It was important to lead by loyalty and not be fear; he had learned that lesson long ago and did his best to be a familiar and dependable face to his colleagues and employees.

He often wondered if things would have turned out differently if the Order had been active when he was still in school, if perhaps they could have cracked down on corrupt Aurors like his Uncle Ron and bigoted Ministry officials like his father. It was why he threw himself into his work with such fervency, to prevent what had happened to his brother from happening to any other child.

He sighed; the cigarette spent, and flicked the stub into the milling throng below. Then he froze when he caught sight of a familiar looking head of ruby red. She was there for a mere second before vanishing into a nearby store and he was sure that his mind was playing tricks on him because she couldn't be here. Lily was in America, or else had died in the cataclysm – he didn't like contemplating that alternative though – and she couldn't be here in Diagon Alley.

He didn't often think of his sister and when he did it was often laced with sadness that he hadn't seen her in what was now eleven and a half years. He missed his baby sister and often wondered what her reaction to him killing their brother would have been, he knew that Teddy had withheld judgement and had just been there for him as a big brother should. Albus had pleaded for him to kill him so James was at peace that he had at least acted on his brother's wishes. But Lily, it was her acceptance he craved the most because she was the only true sibling that he had left.

He had sometimes thought about going to America to seek her out but had always been too cowardly to actually do so. What would he say if he found her?

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me Lily and you were forced to flee the country while pregnant and I'm also very sorry for killing our brother. Do you think we could go out and grab a cup of firewhiskey to catch up?"

The absurdity of that statement made him snort before he noticed the redhead leave the store again. His mouth went dry as he grabbed his leather jacket and headed for the door, intent to meet her face to face. He had gotten a direct look at her and there was no denying who it was any longer.

Lily Luna Potter had returned to Britain at last.

(*)(*)(*)

Lily took a seat at a table outside Florean Fortescue's as she took in the street, so different since she had last been here. Where the street had once been quite rustic and somewhat medieval it would seem that over the course of the last decade wizards had finally caught up to the twenty-first century. Several of the stores looked much more chic than she remembered them to be and there were a few very large office buildings near Gringotts whilst in her youth the only building that had been above seven storeys had been The Rose, Hermione's hotel.

It was two weeks until Hogwarts would begin for the year and Lily had found herself forced to enter the magical world to purchase her son's school things. Orion was currently purchasing their ice-creams, after having insisted that he was a big boy and he didn't need his mother to accompany him. She had smiled in bemusement at him but agreed, after all this was Diagon Alley and at this time of year there were dozens of wizarding children scattered amongst the masses.

She absently patted the shopping bag of textbooks that she had placed on the table beside her, smiling at the thought that the Hogwarts syllabus hadn't changed that much in all this time. Apart from the new class, Unity Studies – of which she was very curious about – all the other subjects had remained the same. Hogwarts was actually the only reason she had returned, because how could she ever deny Orion the chance to attend the fabled school.

Her eyes flittered over the crowd and suddenly she cursed under her breath as she caught sight of a man in his mid to late thirties walking out of the Madame Malkin's and she recognized those wavy turquoise locks as if it had been only yesterday that she had last seen them. She winced at the sudden appearance of her god-brother, hoping that the shopping bags and the passage of time was enough to obscure her from his lupine gaze. Then her jaw dropped slightly at the adolescent boy who followed him out the store. He was tall and lean, though his arms were banded with lithe muscles and she could tell by his tight t-shirt that those muscles extended across his entire body. A silver loop clung to his left ear and when he opened his mouth to speak she noticed a stud on his tongue, framed in wolfishly sharp teeth. She didn't recognize any of these features save for his hair, which he wore in punkish waves of neon-green.

Merlin, the last time she had seen Remy Lupin he had crawled into her lap and begged her to read him another bedtime story. Now, judging by how attractive a young man her nephew had grown into she was shrewd enough to think that he often had girls on his lap instead.

Her gaze travelled back to Teddy and now people around her were staring curiously at her look of shock, because her eyes had fallen on the girl walking beside Teddy as if attached to his hip. She was young, no more than Orion's age and by the pale pink of her ponytail she was definitely Teddy's daughter.

Was it shameful that she didn't even know her nieces name? Was it worse that she didn't even know that she had a niece?

But it wasn't her fault; she had had to leave for the sake of her son's wellbeing. Why then, did seeing the family she had left behind leave such a bitter taste in her mouth. Her breath hitched when she saw that Teddy was staring at her with the same gobsmacked expression she was wearing as she stared at him and his children. The staring match continued for a minute, perhaps an hour – she would never know – before he started making his way towards her, the two young metamorphmagi in tow.

"Lily?" he asked in a thick voice, beside him Remy seemed to start as recognition overtook him. He raised an eyebrow at her, seemingly nonchalant that his long lost aunt had finally returned.

"It's good to see you, Teddy," she replied, her voice breaking as she chanced a small smile. Then before she could react he had her crushed in a hug so tight that she found it difficult to breathe.

"It's really you . . . oh, Lily-Petal," he murmurs before pulling away and fixing her with a stern glare, a look she was sure had graced her own face whenever Orion had been misbehaving. "Where have you been?" he asked, his hair flitting no less than six different colours as his emotions ran wild before settling in his usual blue.

She opened her mouth to speak but no sound came out, she didn't know what to say. Fortunately Remy seemed to notice her hesitation and spoke; her lip trembled as she heard his voice for the first time in years. It had lost its childlike wonder but it still held the boyish curiosity and mischievous lilt that she had loved to hear when he was but a boy on her lap.

"We thought you were dead," and she flinched that these were the first words he would ever say to her after eleven years of separation. But her heart stilled for a moment because she realised that was what it must have seemed like to those she had left behind, especially after the cataclysm had decimated the American seaboard six years prior to this day.

Would it really have been that hard for her to put quill to parchment and write them a letter, just to reassure them that she was okay?

"So what finally brought you back?" asked Teddy to try and quell the awkward silence because really, what else was there to ask the sister he had thought as lost as the brother who had died.

And the answer to that question chose that moment to appear, bless his young soul, his eyes glimmering – her eyes – beneath his hair and he held two chocolate cones in his hands as he approached their table, not seeming to notice the three people surrounding his mother.

"They didn't have strawberry, mum," he says quickly, suddenly realising they're not alone and it strikes her that the first time her brother hears his eldest nephew's voice that those would be his words. Looking up she forced a smile to her lips, noticing how ashen Teddy's hair had turned and how the girl – whose name she still didn't know – was studying her young son. It seemed strange that the only one who looked to have been expecting this had been Remy, but she put it down to him always having been a quick-witted individual.

Not knowing how to proceed she decided that making introductions would be the best way to break the growing ice that lingered in the sunlit air.

"Ryan, these are your cousins, Remy and –," she broke off, but thankfully her nephew seemed to once again come to her rescue.

"Andrea, but call her Andy or she may bite your head off, kid," he smirked at the relieved look on her face and she noticed for the first time, that there was the shadow of the wolf across his features.

"Hey," said Orion somewhat awkwardly, and Lily had never been more pleased that she had been completely honest with her son about why she had left Britain in the first place. Even at eleven, he seemed to pick up that the air was tense and humming with unasked questions.

"Hey," said Teddy, and if his voice trembled she chose not to notice, "I guess I'm your Uncle Teddy then." Then he turned to her with a Black smile, one that made her remember that he came from the same line that had produced Bellatrix, Draco and Scorpius before saying:

"Why don't you come home with us, baby sister? It seems we have a lot to catch up on."

She nods, even though it hurts so bad that he would call her baby sister because that had been what Albus had always called her.

(*)(*)(*)

"Rose?" asked Hermione, looking up from her novel as her daughter stepped out of the fireplace in a whoosh of green flame, pausing only to dust the soot from the robes as she came to sit beside across from her whilst wearing a tense look on her face. Draco, who had taken the day off from work due to things running quite smoothly at the Ministry, glanced up in mild curiosity from his own book.

"Have either of you told Scorpius that Lily is back?" she asked, not bothering with pleasantries as she delved right into the topic that had brought her from Hogwarts. The new school year would start soon and Rose was extremely busy with making preparations as this was her first year as Headmistress following Minerva's resignation the previous year.

"No," admitted Draco, "We didn't want to get his hopes up."

"We thought it best to let Lily come to him," said Hermione at the same time as her husband, causing Rose to look at them with mild indignation.

"He has a right to know," pointed out Rose, "It's his son who's going to be starting Hogwarts this year."

"But it isn't our place to tell him," said Hermione, understanding where her daughter was coming from but needing her to know that it wasn't their decision to make, "We have to face facts that neither of them have seen each other in eleven years and that Lily may have moved on, just like Scorpius has."

"Please," scoffed Rose, "He would drop Adrianna in a heartbeat for Lily and we all know it." She was not a fan of her sister-in-law as Adrianna had been firmly opposed to Delphin marrying a barren witch from an impure bloodline. The feeling of dislike was mutual because Rose didn't think Ade was good for her brother either.

"Be that as it may," said Draco in a firm tone that both women recognized as his "Minister" voice, "What if Lily has moved on? Who's to say whether or not Orion now calls another man father?"

Rose spluttered, her father had raised some very valid points and whilst she would like nothing better than for her brother to get the happiness he deserved, she also knew that it would crush him if Orion had a stepfather.

"For his sake," said Hermione, a tone of finality in her voice, "We can't intervene. Not yet at any rate."

After that, the conversation flowed marginally lighter as Rose caught up with how her daughters were doing. She dreaded the actual school year when she would have to spend nights as well as days away from her family but knew they were in good hands with her mother. Thirty minutes later, after stopping by their room at the Manor to receive a makeover from her two-year old twins, she headed through the floo, her heart feeling marginally lighter.

She just wished that Lily would make her decision quickly, Scorpius had dealt with a lot during his life and he didn't deserve to have her play with his feelings by returning. In her opinion, if Lily had come home remarried and moved on then she would do everything in her power to ensure that Scorpius got rights his happy ending.

(*)(*)(*)

"REMY WILLIAM LUPIN," a woman screeched, and Lily winced as she stood on the porch of the suburban home with its white picket fence and perfectly mowed lawn. It brought a smile to her face, imagining Teddy running a lawn-mover across the grass as if it were the most normal thing in the world whilst the muggles next door stared at his turquoise hair.

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU? IS THAT A TONGUE PIERCING! I WARNED YOU NO–," Victoire fell silent, her face blanching as if she's seen a ghost when she caught sight of Lily being ushered through the door by Teddy, Orion in tow. She gasps, looking from mother to son as her brain does the calculations and she plops backwards into the couch, looking quite flustered and overwhelmed.

"Look who we found," said Remy in a cheery tone, and Lily fixed him with a shrewd glare because she had a feeling that her arrival had just worked in his favour. She remembered from her own youth that Victoire, while the gentlest of all the Weasleys, had inherited a temper that was far worse than the family's fabled rage. Victoire had inherited the Veela temperament and Lily knew from experience how biting her words could be when roused.

"Lily," stammered Victoire, gazing at her cousin with widened eyes. "You're back." Then her face broke out into a warm smile and she stood, hurrying forward to crush her cousin in a bone-shattering embrace. Lily smirked at her nephew as she saw him wink at her before disappearing up the stairs, no doubt hoping to hide out there till his mother had cooled down regarding his new piercing. When Victoire finally released her and the introductions were made, Lily settled down on the couch across from Teddy and Victoire whilst Andrea dragged Orion off to play.

"How long have you been back?" asked Victoire, without preamble and Lily noted with a twisting feeling in her gut that her cousin had a very calculating look in her sky-blue eyes. It was times like this that her cousin gave of the same impression as Albus Dumbledore had when Lily had visited the headmistress's office, that he was x-raying you with his eyes.

"Three weeks," she shifted guiltily, noticing that Teddy had a hurt look in his eyes.

"So if I didn't see you today, when would I have known my sister was home?" he asked, and Victoire arched an eyebrow when she stuttered in response.

"It isn't easy, you know," admitted Lily finally, and Teddy's expression morphed to one of confusion. "Coming back to a place that you practically fled from almost a decade ago and not knowing if the people you love now hate you for leaving. Having to come home and face the facts that your brother is dead and he isn't coming back and you'll never see him smile at you again or call you baby sister and muss up your hair even though he knows you hate it." Lily wasn't thinking as she spoke, something had broken the dam within her and now everything she had been suppressing for so long was coming rushing to the surface. She was dimly aware that she was crying and that Teddy was looking at her as though he had been slapped whilst Victoire had an expression of utmost pity and sadness on her face.

"I barely recognized Remy when I saw him today in Diagon Alley, what kind of Godmother does that? I didn't know you had a daughter Teddy, I didn't know Louis was married. Fuck that, I didn't even know he was gay! I've missed so much and I've lost so much that I just can't deal with being reject–" Teddy cut her off with a reassuring hug and she burrowed her face into his shoulder, crying softly as he patted her back. She realised with a pang how much she had missed him, her eldest brother – even if there was no blood connection between them – her favourite person to ask for advice, her first Teddy-Bear.

She was scared to face her family because she didn't think she could handle their rejection if they hated her but as she sat there in her godbrothers' arms, she realised that she was being naive and cowardly. She couldn't run from her problems forever.

She may have been a Ravenclaw but that didn't change the fact that she had the heart of a Gryffindor and the cunning of a Slytherin – the best traits of both her brothers. She had no doubt that a part of James was dead and gone, that a shard of his brightness had been dimmed by his suffering.

Neither would want her to keep running, so she would live for them as well as her son, just as their best qualities lived on in her.

(*)(*)(*)

"You cannot be serious," said Xavier, wide-eyed as he contemplated his wife.

"I am, Xav," she said seriously, "I'm the Divisions best agent. I'm the only one they can send in."

"You told me that the last four agents to go in all came back in body-bags!" Xavier exploded, pacing the room angrily. What was his wife thinking? What was Blaise Zabini thinking? How dare he send his wife into the midst of a group that was arguably as dangerous as the Death Eaters had been?

"I'm not like the rest and you know it," replied Kat in a soft tone, things were now becoming serious with the mysterious Cult and Ghost Division was on high alert. Whilst it had not yet been made public knowledge, Hugo was planning on briefing the Order agents immediately. The fourth agent had had his corpse ripped to bloody shreds before being sent back – Blaise and Hugo both now knew they were dealing with a serious threat to the magical world.

"But we don't know their agenda or the motives, Kat," he said tersely, even though it was technically illegal for her to have told her husband the details of her work she had done so anyway, "We don't know anything about this Cult and you want to go right into the middle of the shitstorm."

"This is my last assignment," she said, "I'm transferring to the Auror Department afterwards. But I need to do this Xavier; it's my job to keep the world – and this family – safe."

"And the boys," barked Xavier, seemingly not impressed that his wife still was so determined to go, "Are you still going to do after what happened to Savage's family?" Kat bit her lip, she knew he wouldn't like what she was about to tell him.

"You and the boys are going into hiding until I get back," she said, causing him to look disgusted at her. She knew that it was for the best however, the Cultists had murdered the Savage family after Agent Savage had been caught scoping out on of their safe-houses. Rumour had it that Mrs. Savage had been made to watch them rape and torture their son and two daughters before all four of them had been killed.

"Katherine . . .," begged Xavier, "Please don't do this. Please, don't ask me to hide away while you risk your life."

"You have too," she said, coming up to him and wrapping her arms around his wiry frame, "For the sake of our sons."

"Promise me that you will come home safe and sound," he said in resignation, pressing his lips to her forehead. She relaxed under his administrations, smiling wanly as he scooped her up and carried her to bed.

"I promise that I will always come home to you, Xavier," she said, closing her eyes as they both fell into bed, knowing they wouldn't see each other in a very long while.

(*)(*)(*)

"Fuck you," she grinned as she climbed off the floor that she had just been shoved down too, a twinkle in her violet eyes. She had apparated to his bedroom just a few minutes ago; precisely onto his bed so that the ever-present silencing charm he had placed on it would mask the noise of apparition. From past experience she knew his parents were light sleepers and considering that his father was one of her professors at Hogwarts, she didn't want things to get awkward.

"You could have called first," groaned Remy, she had landed with her knee jarring against a particularly painful part of his anatomy and it was also quite late, judging by the near-full moon that hung suspended at its apex against the star-strewn sky.

"Where's the fun in that, Remy-kins," she smirked as she perched herself on the bed beside him, completely unabashed that her best friend was lying there in his boxers. Mostly because they had recently gotten past the friends stage and had then proceeded to land somewhere in the middle of "friends with benefits."

"The fun is that I get to sleep, Demitria," and she scowled because she hated her full name with the same intensity that his grandmother had been rumoured to have hated hers. He didn't blame her though. What was wrong with Nana Andromeda that she had named her only daughter Nymphadora?

He winced bodily as she dug her manicured nails into his chest and then she smirked at the vivid red marks they left.

"Fine," he grumbled, "I'll call you Demi!" Her eyes seemed to darken with ill-disguised lust when she caught sight of his tongue ring and his face broke out into a light grin – he had hoped she would like it.

"A tongue ring, Remy?" she asked, amusement evident in her voice, "Whatever would your mother say?"

"She threatened to bend me over her knee and then she raged at dad for allowing it," he admitted and she threw back her head with silent laughter, her sable hair flourishing like a dark curtain around her pale skin.

"Doesn't she know that I'm the only one allowed to spank you?" teased Demi, winking as he flushed so deeply that his green hair became tinged with red.

"By the way, why are you here?" asked Remy, wanting to divert the conversation away from their explicit activities. Yes, she had spanked him – but that had been one time! He hadn't been able to sit properly for two days afterwards . . .

Demitria fell stonily silent at his question, her eyes glazing over with that guarded expression he knew so well. She bit her lip, not wanting to have to go into details because she had come to him to escape. Remy had always been her escape.

"Are they at it again?" he asked, knowing the answer before she nodded. Demitria's parents had what was perhaps the worst and most abusive relationship Remy had ever seen, they were both purebloods who had been placed into an arranged marriage and they hated each other with a passion. The only person in this world who had had more affairs than her mother was her father. Remy often wondered if having to grow up with such venomous, vapid individuals was the reason Demi was such a cold, somewhat ruthless, rebellious person. Well at least she had been cold . . . then in their second year she had met a boy with green hair who managed to thaw her frozen heart.

"Can I stay here tonight?" she asked him, a wan smile breaking over her face when he shrugged as if to say, "Do you even need to ask?" She quickly slipped beneath his covers and snuggled up against him, sighing at the instant comfort she always felt around Remy. She would never admit it for fear of what came with relationships, but she had fallen head over heels in love with the metamorphmagus since her fifth year.

"One day, I'm going to be an auror and I'm going to stop husbands hitting their wives," she whispered, relaxing as his arm curled around her so that his hand lay on the small of her back.

"No fair," he chuckled, as usual diffusing the tension of their conversation, "I have to put with you at work too?" They both knew that he had applied to the Auror Department and would start his training as soon as he finished their upcoming seventh year.

"You're never getting rid of me, Remy William Lupin," she promised before closing her eyes and losing herself in his familiar scent, soon drifting off to sleep. Vaguely she heard him respond, but she was not sure if she was dreaming or if he had actually said it.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Demitria Pierce."