Fandom(s): Harry Potter
Pairing(s): James Potter/Lily Evans
Warning(s): alternate universe; female!Harry (Haley); time travel; het; pure-blood customs; pure-blood society; pure-blood traditions; good!Peter Pettigrew; evil!Severus Snape; temporary character death' mentions of random pairings; and mentions of original characters
Summary: At the start of her fifth year, Lily met the new transfer student, Haley.
A Tale of Two Lilies
Seventh Year
Summer was different this year.
In the past, Lily spent her summers filled with studying, doing her homework, and spending time with her family.
This year, since she was seventeen, Lily was allowed to perform magic outside of school and she had her apparation license. During the weekdays, Lily apparated away from her parents' house, and she would return at night to spend time with her family. In her time away, Lily visited James at Potter Manor, or her others friends, and she would spend time with Haley exploring parts of the country.
During her visits to Potter Manor, Lily met Charlus and Dorea, James' parents. They were both surprised when Lily accepted James. His parents weren't blind to his faults, and they knew he was growing as a person, but they thought it would be another year or two before Lily would even think about giving James a chance.
Lily, also, had the pleasure of getting to know James' friends. She spent the most time with Sirius. Apparently, Sirius had moved in with the Potters back in fifth year.
Since she was dating James, Lily felt she should make an effort to get to know his friends and she should be civil with them. Being civil included calling them by their first names, not their last names. Getting to know James' friends was harder than she thought, but it was worth the efforts.
Sirius was something of a witches' wizard, and he had trouble committing to one witch. He was funny and generous when it came to his friends, and he was rather smart. Sirius was looking at a career in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as an auror.
Remus was quiet and withdrawn. While he was smart and friendly, he had a huge self-pity issue. So what, he was a werewolf, but that wasn't the end of the world. Remus was undecided on a future career since he was convinced no one would hire a werewolf, but he was interested in law and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Peter was hard to get to know. He was a little creepy. He was always there, silent and partly hidden. Most times, Peter tended to follow James and Sirius around, and he had a habit of appearing out of nowhere. Peter wasn't the smartest of people, but he was stubborn and he didn't like to quit. Peter was looking at becoming an Unspeakable, if he did well on his NEWTs.
...
Lily was having difficulty prying information out of Haley – try as she might. For obvious reasons, Haley didn't care about preserving the future, but she didn't talk about it much. Lily wanted to know about Haley's life – her friends, her family, and her life. Based off of Haley's vague answers, she considered her closest friends to be her family.
Haley did share some information, but it wasn't the type Lily wanted to know – at the moment. What good was the Wolf's Bane Potion when she wanted to know about Haley's childhood? What was the use of a truth serum when Haley changed the subject?
Lily recorded each potion in her personal grimoire. These would be potions she planned to released in the future, but before that, she wanted to experiment with the recipes and the directions first. Haley was confident that Lily could improve these potions. Haley's faith in her filled Lily with determination.
...
Haley worried about Lily and James. While they knew she was their daughter, they both saw Haley as a close friend. She kept numerous secrets from them, and there were times she didn't seem to truth them. It was trying for both Lily and James. They wanted to know her – both as Haley Pnarcissus, their friend, and Haley Jasmine Potter, their future daughter.
Over the summer holidays, she came home with Lily, but Haley tended to disappear for days at a time. She would come back with twigs in her hair and a glare. From what Lily and James could pry out of her, Haley was looking for something and it was important.
Based off of Haley's frustrations, Lily had a feeling it was connected to her mission to bring down Lord Voldemor. Haley's mission seemed to be going well.
After The Daily Prophet articles last year, some pure-blood families stopped supporting him. People didn't seem to fear him as much. He was still feared for the things he did, but the fear wasn't as strong.
...
For all the times Haley disappeared, there were times she hung around with Lily at her parents or went to Potter Manor with her. Lily and Haley would spend a lazy afternoon at the park, working on homework or cloud watching. Haley even got Petunia to spend some time with Lily, which meant the world to Lily because she missed her sister. On the days they went to Potter Manor, Haley would spend hours in the library learning about the Potter family history or flying with James.
...
With her full days, summer sped by. Before Lily knew it, the first of September came. This year, she apparated herself to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. She spent the morning with her parents and her sister, enjoying one last morning together.
On the train, Lily found Selene in Haley's compartment. With no sign of Haley, Lily let herself in and she took a seat. Selene watched Lily's movements before she jumped over to seat next to Lily. Ten minutes before departure, Haley entered the compartment. She wore a smug expression and she took a seat across from Lily.
"What's going on?" Lily asked.
Haley smiled. "I finished my scavenger hunt," she declared.
Lily's eyes narrowed. So, Haley finished collecting whatever she was looking for. While Lily didn't know what those items were, she figured it was a good thing.
...
The train ride passed quickly. As Head Girl, Lily led the Prefects meeting with James, who was the Head Boy. They both rushed through the meeting, covering the duties and patrol schedules. Once they declared the meeting was over, they rushed off. James returned to his friends while Lily checked in with some of her other friends before returning to Haley.
When she returned to the compartment, Lily found Haley sound asleep with her head against the window. Selene was seated in her lap, grooming her paws. Lily sat across from Haley and she pulled out her grimoire.
...
The next morning, classes began. This year was the hardest yet. Lily found her handling the workload with minimal stress. Between her Head Girl duties, her homework, and her studying, Lily hardly had a spare moment. What spare time she did have, she spent divided between spending time with James, and observing Haley.
Haley spent her time practicing spells and charms before writing the essays. It seemed that the practical magic came easy to her, and she knew the material. From what Lily had seen, Haley often received Outstanding and Exceeds Expectation on most of her essays.
Outside of Quidditch and flying, Haley spent a lot of time on her own. Lily saw her seated in the common room, scribbling away in what appeared to be a journal. Lily was willing to bet it was a grimoire, not a journal.
...
The months sped by.
Haley won the first Quidditch of the season by catching the snitch in ten minutes, allowing Gryffindor to beat Slytherin. Lily's relationship with James continued to grew, and Lily found herself falling in love with him.
Most of Lily's friends were supportive of her relationship with James. Only Severus Snape had an issue with their relationship. He went out of his way to antagonize James and his friends. Following James' lead, Sirius started to ignore the Slytherin as well. It seemed ignoring Severus irritated him more than ever pranking him.
On Halloween, Severus reached his boiling point. As she was leaving the Halloween Feast, Lily ran into Severus. He wore an angry expression and he grabbed Lily's arm with enough force to bruise it. Unlucky for Lily, it was her wand arm and her wand was strapped to her wrist.
"Listen here, Lily," he said, glaring at Lily, "it's me or Potter." He practically spat the name.
A sense of fear filled Lily. She had never seen this side of her friend before. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"Choose!" Severus demanded. "Me or Potter? You can't have us both." His grip on her arm tightened.
"Sev, let go," pleaded Lily. "You're hurting me!"
Instead of letting go, Severus' grip continued to tighten.
"L-let go of her, Snape!" declared Peter Pettigrew. He had his wand drawn and it was aimed at Severus.
Lily was relieved to see him. While she didn't know Peter that well, she knew he was one of James' closest friends. Peter was a loyal friend. At times, Lily liked Peter more than Remus.
"What are you going to do, Pettigrew?" Severus demanded.
Peter's hand was shaking, but the wand was pointed at Snape. He didn't say anything.
"That's what I thought," Snape said. "Run along to Potter and Black, now." He turned his attention back to Lily, ignoring Pettigrew.
"So, Lily, who is it gonna be?" he demanded, his eyes narrowed. "Me or Potter?"
From her position, Lily saw Peter's hand tightened around his wand and his arm stopped shaking. His eyes narrowed and he shot a wordless Stunning Spell at Snape's back. The effects were instantaneous. Snape's body froze up and his arms were forced to his sides before falling over.
"Are you alright, Lily?" Peter asked, rushing to Lily's side.
Lily pushed her sleeve up and she inspected her arm. The spot Severus gripped was red and it would definitely be bruised come tomorrow or the next day. "I'll be fine," Lily replied, "after I see the nurse."
...
Things happened quickly.
Peter escorted Lily to the Hospital Wing and he was polite enough to levitate Snape along behind them. Lily was checked out and her injuries were documented before they were healed. Whien James entered the Hospital Wing, he ran straight to Lily's side and he remained there. Sirius followed behind him, stopping to glare at Snape.
When Haley entered the Hospital Wing, she ignored Snape and she headed towards Lily and James.
"Are you alright?" Haley asked, taking a seat next to James.
Lily sighed. How many times would she have to answer that question? "I will be," she answered.
Haley sighed and she shook her head. She glanced over at Snape. "I guess somethings are meant to be," she muttered.
That comment peaked Lily's interest. She knew Haley wasn't fond of Snape, but she was supportive of Lily's friendship with him.
When Lily was fully healed and her statement was taken by Professor McGonagall, she was dismissed. As she walked out of the Hospital Wing, Lily cast a glance at Snape.
...
Snape wasn't expelled, but he would be serving detention once a week for the rest of the year. He was forced to remain twenty feet away from Lily, and he wasn't allowed to contact her in anyway.
Lily was sad about the loss of her childhood friend. She did love him. He had been a large part of her life, but he made his choices. It seemed that Severus thought Lily was his and he was obsessed with her. He was obsessed to the point that he was convinced he was in love with her.
...
Before anyone knew it, the winter holidays came. This year, Lily spent her time divided between her family at home and James at Potter Manor. James officially met her parents, but as far as they were concerned James was her boyfriend, not her promised.
Haley spent the holidays at Potter Manor, after James had invited. Even though James knew her true identity, he hadn't informed his parents. He felt the less people who knew the truth, the better it would be for Haley. Lily did agree with him.
In fact, James hadn't even told Sirius.
Overall, Charlus and Dorea liked Haley. They knew she was close friend to both their son and his promised, and she played a role in getting the couple together.
For Christmas, James presented Lily with the betrothal ring and the betrothal contract. A betrothal contract was common pure-blood practice. This contract was non-biding. If Lily and James decided to break up, the rings would be returned to James since they were family heirlooms. The contract held other things, like Lily would take the Potter name upon marriage, and she would do her best to provide James with an heir.
If Haley hadn't given Lily those books, she would have discarded the betrothal contract. Before she had considered betrothal contracts to be outdated and barbaric. Thanks to Haley, Lily understood it was vital due to pure-blood traditions. The betrothal contract held the duties and responsibilities of each Lily and James, and it covered all the important information, like finances and Lily's personal grimoire.
The betrothal contract even covered divorced. Lily would return to her maiden name. They would share custody of their children, and they would remain civil for the sake of their children. Their joint vault would be split fifty and fifty between James and Lily, and Lily would keep her grimoire.
...
When Lily returned to school, she started to focus more on her studying. NEWTs were just around the corner in June. With Haley, Lily started reviewing everything, starting from first year. The material from first through fifth year was quickly reviewed. Most of that was covered in the OWL exams while NEWTs largely covered sixth and seventh year material.
The months slowly started to pass by. Before Lily knew it, she was sitting down for her NEWTs.
...
Haley led Lily and James to a room she called the Room of Requirements. Both Lily and James were fascinated by the room.
In the room, Haley took a seat and she started pulling journals out of her bag. There were twelve in total. Both Lily and James recognized the journals as grimoires. A person usually filled three in their lifetime, and Haley had twelve.
"These should hold everything you want to know," she said, organizing seven into a pile. "These are my school years." She pushed the pile towards Lily and James. The top grimoire had a tan cover with First Year written in gold on the cover.
Haley placed three of the others into a separate pile. "These are my post school years," she said. The last two were stacked together. "And these are my journey here."
Lily and James looked at the three piles.
"You're leaving, aren't you?" Lily asked, staring at Haley.
Haley shook her head. "Kind of," she replied. "I came back to kill Voldemort. Once he's gone, I should fade."
A sod escaped Lily's throat as she realize what that meant. Haley would be disappearing – she was leaving them.
"When?" James asked, stunned.
"Soon," Haley replied with a sad smile.
...
For Lily it was all too soon. A week after graduating, Voldemort's wand was sent to Lily and James with a short note. By the time the note arrived, Haley was gone.
Dear Lily and James,
Don't morn me. I did what I did for a reason.
Voldemort ruined my life. Shortly after I was born, a prophecy was made. Basically, it said I would defeat Voldemort or he would kill me. Because of this prophecy, you were murdered when I was fifteen months old. I was hailed as The Girl-Who-Lived for surviving the Killing Curse and defeating Voldemort.
I grew up with Petunia and her husband Vernon and their son Dudley. (I hope they don't actually marry.) I knew nothing of magic or you two. I didn't even know I was a witch until my eleventh birthday when Hagrid showed up with my Hogwarts letter.
Since I didn't know anything about magic or this world, I had a difficult time adjusting. Long story short, I encountered Voldemort several times – in my first, second, fourth, and fifth school years. I defeated him in what would have been my seventh year.
The reason Voldemort was hard to defeat was because he created horcruxes. There were seven in total – including one in my forehead.
My friend, Hermione, found a ritual that would allow me to travel back in time. The cost would be my existence. After defeating Voldemort, once and for all, I would fade. I deiced it was worth the price. My existence would make a better life for numerous people.
Meeting you two was a lifelong dream for me. I've always wanted to know you – to know what you were like.
Please, don't mourn me. I know you will, but please live a full life. That's what I want most – it's why I did this. I wanted you two to have amazing life together.
Love, Haley
This fanfiction is a part of The Halloween Collection, which is a collection of unrelated ficlets, oneshots, and full-length fanfiction stories that are related to a Halloween themed word prompt, which is listed at the end of each story.
Type: Full-length - four chapters
Prompts: Black cat, death, and shadows
The Halloween Collection
One: Accord de le Destin (general)
Two: Her Niece and His Goddaughter (general)
Three: Love on Her Arm (Bill Weasley/Hyacinthe Potter)
Four: Of Flames and Snow (Jon Snow/Hedera Waters) [Crossover with Game of Thrones and A Song of Fire and Ice]
Five: A Tale of Two Lilies (general)
Six: Bonds of Family (general)
Seven: Just a Glance (Jacob Black/Heather Potter) [Crossover with Twilight]
Eight: Shine Bright (Danny Williams/Helene Potter) [Crossover with Hawaii Five-0]
Nine: Whispered Conversations (Ron Weasley/Helenium Potter)
Ten: Emmett Cullen: Triwizard Champion (Emmett Cullen/Roselia Hale, Harry is Emmett) [Crossover with Twilight]
Eleven: Enchanting (Abraxas Malfoy/Halesia Potter)
Twelve: Eclipsed (Tom Riddle/Heliconia Peverell)
Thirteen: Silent Symphony (general)