Hermione had to resist the urge to skip down the Ministry Halls (although she did do a little twirl the one time she happened to be in an empty hall). She was in such a good mood, that she didn't even mind that Percy had spent the first three and a half hours of her workday running her ragged. She sprinted through her tasks, making deliveries and running messages, in a manic urge to just get through to lunch, and, now, she was almost there.
I can't wait, she thought as the lift doors opened to her floor- Percy's little office was on the twelfth floor, in the Department of Magical Management and Bureaucracy. That he happened to be tucked away in the smallest office, all the way in the very back corner, didn't seem to bother him one bit. Hermione couldn't resist the urge much longer, and she gave in and skipped down the last hallway.
Two more hours. Two more! She started humming to herself, too, right before opening the office door.
"There you are!" Percy said, looking up from the reams upon reams of paper crowding his desk. His glasses were hanging on the tip of his nose, but he pushed them up and stood to welcome her. She thought she'd seen a look of exhaustion on his face when she first entered- but, now that she was here, he was all smiles and manic energy.
"Hello, Percy," Hermione said, trying to be pleasant. She wasn't going to let him ruin her day. "Got another task for me?" She certainly hoped he didn't have too much for her to do.
"I have an important lunch meeting with the Department Head in about an hour," Percy said, taking his watch. "If it's not too much trouble, I need you to write me up a report on the schedules and work done by this year's interns, sorted by the departments they serve, to be due in about half an hour, so I can read over it on the way over. About twenty pages should do it, I think. And I'm sorry about the late notice- they only just delivered the message that I'd need the bloody thing."
As if to emphasize that point, he picked up a rather crumpled paper from where he'd just been sat, and the lines of stress reappeared on his face.
"Right away," Hermione said, sitting down at her own, much smaller desk, positioned in the corner opposite Hermione's.
"You're a life saver, Hermione," Percy said, sighing and collapsing back into his seat. "Honestly, I don't know what I would do without you- even if you do refuse to stop wearing those Muggle suits." Hermione sniffed, there, just to warn him that he was treading on thin ice. Her outfits were nonnegotiable. "Tell you what- let me buy you lunch. It's the least I can do."
"Oh, it's no bother," Hermione said, and, really, it wasn't. If he'd asked anybody else, sure, it'd probably have been an impossible task. Hermione, though? She could get it done in ten.
"No, really," Percy insisted, rubbing at his tired eyes. "If you're willing to have a late lunch, I'll bring you back something- we can eat together, right in here, my treat."
Hermione hesitated for a moment before speaking, taking the time to dip her quill in fresh ink. "Tomorrow, maybe. I'm leaving early today, remember?"
"Leaving early?" Percy said, sounding horrified. "What on earth for?"
"Lily is getting out today," Hermione said, already halfway through her first page. "We're throwing a party to celebrate, and I wanted to help them set everything up." Plus, she had her own plans to prepare for, provided Ginny had followed through on her end.
"Oh," Percy said, sounding disappointed. She filled the second page by drawing out a large line graph, to compare the productivity levels of the different interns. The key to working in the Ministry was to fill your required reports with as much superfluous data as possible- Hermione learned long ago that they really just cared that you did the work at all, rather than the quality of it. Also, hardly anybody even looked at what you turned in, and if they needed to sign something, they never read it; she'd just point at a line, and they'd plop down their signature without even bothering to make sure they weren't selling away their soul.
"You should come, you know," Hermione said, choosing her words very carefully as she began on page seven. "Your family misses you."
Percy snorted. "I highly doubt that."
"No, really," Hermione said, dipping her quill in ink again. "Ginny says your mum's been crying almost every day, since you sent your watch back."
"I'm not accepting a gift when I was only considered as an afterthought," Percy said.
"That's not fair!" Hermione protested, not looking up from her work. "Lily worked really hard on those!" Hermione had, too, but only in the last little phase of development. "She ordered all the parts and everything before the Quidditch World Cup, and she spent all year tinkering on them, trying to get the spells to work!"
"Really?" Percy said, a bit of surprise in his tone. "That long ago?"
"She would have finished them much sooner, too, if it hadn't been for the tournament," Hermione said. She was still waiting on her own watch to be finished- the practical functions were done, but Lily said she wanted to make it extra special, so she hadn't let Hermione take it back to Hogwarts with her.
She wondered if she'd ever get it, at this point.
"I doubt they'd want me to come," Percy said as she started on the tenth page. "Especially if it's a party for her."
"And, what, exactly" Hermione said, accidentally bearing down a bit too hard on the paper, "is that supposed to mean?"
"Well- she's not really family, is she?" Percy said. "And, yet, they seem to care a lot more for her than they ever did me."
"You can't be serious," Hermione said, grabbing another fresh sheet of paper.
"Well, I mean, just look at-"
"You family loves you, Percy," Hermione said. "If they didn't, they wouldn't be so upset that you're gone- every time Ginny writes me, she asks about you, you know."
"She does?" Percy asked, blinking slowly.
"Of course, she does," Hermione said. "She misses you. And Lily is your family- as a matter of fact, she feels terrible for putting this wedge between you and the rest of them."
"Really?"
"Honestly, she refused to put herself on the watches she made for you Weasleys because she's convinced herself that none of you actually like her," Hermione said, now in a good pace of writing. "And all because you made her feel unwelcome in her own home- honestly, you moved out when she was almost killed at the World Cup! She felt so terrible about it that she didn't even try to take the chance to move back into the Burrow when Sirius offered it to her!"
"She doesn't live there anymore?" Percy asked, sounding legitimately surprised.
"No," Hermione said, and, if truth be told, Hermione was happier for it- because Lily just looked so happy being near Sirius. She knew the other girl was probably still hurt about the whole Weasley situation- even if Lily never wanted to talk about it- but at least it had put her near someone who was so set on giving her a good home.
Percy remained silent while she finished the report, and even up until the point where he had to leave to make his meeting. It was only as he had his hand on the door, papers tucked under his arm, that he turned back to her.
"Has she really been crying that often?" Percy asked.
"That's what Ginny told me," Hermione said.
Percy drummed his fingers on the door handle and then nodded at her.
"Have a wonderful rest of the day, Hermione," he said, pushing the door open. "And- err- give mum my regards, would you?"
"There you are!" Sirius said, whisking the two girls inside from the porch. "Come on, we're getting things ready- Ashley, Molly needs your help in the kitchen."
"Oh, lovely!" Ashley said, clasping her hands together. "Lily loves burnt bread!"
"Hermione," Sirius said, whisking the younger girl towards the sitting room, "feel free to refuse if you'd like, but- err- Lily's room is a mess, see, and she never even got around to unpacking her school trunk."
"Of course she didn't," Hermione said with a deep sigh. "I only told her to do it a million times, but when does she ever listen? I'll do it, Sirius, don't worry. Is- is Ginny here, yet?"
"She's in one of the guest rooms on the third floor," Sirius said, leaving her at the foot of the stairs. "She's more than welcome to help, if that's what you're after. I've got to pick up a certain somebody."
Just saying that made Hermione positively beam, and just the sheer happiness on her face got Sirius feeling much the same. She's a good girl, he thought, watching her skip up the stairs. Lily really hit the mark on that one. He hadn't believed that they were seeing each other until Ashley confessed to letting them sneak off to have a little date. He'd have to talk to Lily about practicing safe habits- no matter how uncomfortable it'd make the both them- especially if the two girls were going to end up being roommates once they got back to Hogwarts. It occurred to him, then, that, as their newest Professor (let alone his standing as Lily's parental authority), he should probably insist that his teenager not share a room with her girlfriend, but, well- that'd require explaining just why, and he was not going to be responsible for outing Hermione.
Before he could lecture Lily about anything, though, he first needed to get her out of her cell.
"Sirius, a word," Ashley said, grabbing him by the arm as he reentered the hallway. She was wearing a pinny, now- no doubt forced upon her by Molly Weasley. He'd never seen her put one on of her own volition.
"Something wrong?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know," Ashley said, "but- well- Lucius Malfoy was allowed to visit Lily today."
"What?" Sirius asked. "Why? How?" He still hadn't been allowed to- Merlin, part of him suspected he'd be forbidden to even pick her up! It'd taken Dumbledore himself reassuring him, just earlier this day during a morning meeting of the Order, to calm his nerves.
"I don't know," Ashley said. "But I've already sent word to Dumbledore- he said, when you go to pick her up, you're to take her to the Burrow, first, so he can check to make sure she isn't Imperiused."
"Got it," Sirius said, feeling nervous, now.
"One more thing," Ashley said, lowering her voice and looking about them. "He asked about Hermione, too, when I ran into him- in the meeting, tonight, I need you to help me convince her parents to come here permanently. I'm worried they're in danger, for what Hermione did."
"Got it," Sirius said, giving her a quick peck on the lips. "I'll be back soon, and this long nightmare will finally be over."
"There you are!" Ginny said, hopping up from where she'd been sat on Lily's bed the very instant Hermione opened the door. She had a feeling Ginny would be in here, rather than her own quarters. She'd hardly closed the door when Ginny had her in a tight, wonderfully warm hug.
"Did you bring the stuff?" Hermione asked, once they broke away.
"Course, I did," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. Hermione watched as she walked over to the other bed- the bed Hermione, herself, would be occupying during her stay in Grimmauld Place- and knelt to pull something out from under the bed. "Got some extra stuff, too- just don't ask where I got them."
"Where'd you get them?" Hermione said immediately.
Ginny sighed as she pulled out a bundle wrapped in brown paper. "Found some of it in mum's closet- she asked me to go get a dress for her, and I- err- I snooped, and I shouldn't have, and what I found made me deeply uncomfortable. There are some things children should never know about their parents."
"Gin, you didn't- you didn't bring anything strange, did you?"
"Merlin, no," Ginny said, shuddering a bit as she handed over the bundle. As Hermione unwrapped it, Ginny leaned in close, a mischievous little smile on her face. "So- what do you think?"
"What are all the candles for?"
"Oh, they're to set the mood," Ginny said happily. "Those are what I found in the closet. They float, see, so all you have to do is set them around the room, and, voila- a magical, romantic environment. The rest, I ordered from Witch Weekly- Lily left a whole stack of them behind- had to guess on some of your measurements, though, since you wouldn't give them to me."
Hermione was starting to feel a bit flushed as she surveyed the rest of the items. Ginny really had gone above and beyond.
"I still think this is a bad idea," she said, wrapping the bundle back up in case anybody came in.
"Sure," Ginny said, rolling her eyes again. "You just seemed so reluctant in all your letters- so, you're going to do kiss her when she gets back, right?"
"Ginny!"
"Oh, come on!" Ginny said, teasingly punching her on the arm. "What's the point of going to so much effort if you aren't going to at least kiss her?"
"She has a girlfriend," Hermione said, doing her best to hide her furiously burning face with as much hair as she could manage.
"One who refused to come today, I seem to recall," Ginny said.
That was true enough. Hermione invited her herself- and then only put all these plans in place upon receiving a polite refusal.
"Still," Hermione said, reluctantly thumbing the edge of the paper. "I- Lily should at least break up with Mandy, first, before we- err-"
"Do a little snogging?" Ginny suggested, laughing when Hermione's face burned hotter. "Blimey, Hermione, you only snogged half the boys at school in those little broom closets of yours- and a girl, too," she added, a cheeky little twinkle in her eye. "There's no use pretending to be an innocent little maiden, now."
"This is different!" Hermione said defiantly. "This is- this is Lily!"
"If you insist," Ginny said, walking over to the guest bed and promptly throwing herself on top of it, feet swinging back and forth in the air, her chin perched on her hands. "I still think you should at least kiss her, though."
"If Lily is willing to go around kissing another girl when she has a girlfriend," Hermione said, "then- then I'm not sure I'd want to date her."
"Oh, you're no fun!" Ginny said. "Come on- where'd all your confidence go? We've been planning this for weeks!"
Hermione chewed her lip for a moment, thinking, feeling flustered all over again. Truth be told, now that she suddenly had the items in her hands, and the promised day had arrived- she found she was terrified. It felt like there was so much that could go wrong. What if someone else walked in before Lily did? What if Lily didn't come in alone? What if Lily came back up to sleep before Hermione could sneak away to ready things? What if Lily was in one of her depressive moods (which, honestly, seemed very likely, given the circumstances), and just wanted to be alone?
What if Lily rejected her? That, she absolutely did not think she could handle.
She crossed over towards Lily's bed and pulled the heavy school trunk out from underneath it. The brown parcel, she hid against the wall- if she could work up the nerve, she'd pull it out later.
"You do the other side of the room," Hermione said, clicking open the latches. "I'll do this one."
"Oh, come on!" Ginny said in a bratty tone. "You could at least try the stuff on! I've been dying to get a little preview, here!"
"Not now, Gin," Hermione said, ignoring the warm feelings all over.
"Alright, fine," Ginny said, sighing. Hermione could hear her starting to work as she began pulling all of Lily's school robes out, one by one.
Merlin, she thought, her nose crinkling at the smell of her Quidditch robes. Doesn't she ever wash these? Underneath those, she found a large pile of equally unwashed socks, and made a little disgruntled noise of disgust when she had to pick one up. Once they were back at Hogwarts, Hermione would have to have a word with Dobby; the school elves wouldn't go through the trunks of students, meaning nothing would get washed if Lily just tossed things in there. He'd ask for a raise, most likely, but she was completely fine with that. She'd been looking for an excuse to increase his wages, anyway.
She picked up a bunch of crumpled and loose papers, intending to toss them straight into the nearest bin, when something long, thin, and wooden rolled right out of them and clattered to the floor. Hermione frowned and reached out to pick it up.
"Drop something?" Ginny asked, not looking her way.
"No," Hermione said, her brow furrowing.
It was a wand. It was around eleven inches, and when Hermione give it a gentle pull, she found it was quite flexible. She was reasonably certain it was made of holly, although she had no idea what the core could be. That wasn't what puzzled her the most, though.
Why did Lily have a spare wand hidden away in her trunk? She thought.
Sirius popped straight into the Ministry of Magic, giddy as could be. As he passed the statue of magical unity, he dumped an entire bag of sickles into it. He didn't even mind when the elderly wizard at the visitor's counter took fifteen minutes to filter him through. He didn't mind that it took another ten just to get down to the holding cells, either.
When he arrived, the auror at the desk nodded at him and then slid over a stack of papers.
"Sign those," he said. "I'll go get the prisoner."
"She's not one anymore, thanks," Sirius said, his good humour deflating a bit. It only took him a minute to finish the paperwork, but it took another ten before, finally, the auror emerged from the heavy bronze doors with a guest in tow, finally free of her heavy shackles.
Lily looked much better, now, and almost exactly as he'd seen her before the Third Task, albeit much sleepier. The bags under her eyes were still there, but she looked freshly washed, at least, and like she'd had at least one good night's sleep. She'd even been allowed to change out of her black robes- now, she was wearing a dark green set.
Sirius moved to greet her first, but, without a single word, Lily threw herself around his chest in a tight hug.
She's taller than me, now, Sirius realized as he wrapped both arms around her, laying a gentle hand on the back of her head and stroking her hair. When did that happen? It felt like just a few weeks ago she'd bury her head in his chest when he held her, but, now- he could still remember when she was a small little thing, bundled up in her mother's arms, wailing for food. He could still remember the first time James and Lily let him hold her, and how he never wanted to let go. Handing her back over was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do, until now, when he had to pull away from her hug and look her in the eyes.
She was never supposed to be mine, but- but here we are.
She looked so tired, and her eyes- they weren't as bright as they had once been. That hurt him more than he could possibly put into words. He ran a thumb over her cheek, wiping away the one tear that she hadn't been able to hold back. He gave her another look over.
"Where's your watch?" he asked, holding up his own. She'd been wearing it when she entered the task- he remembered a bunch of nifflers trying to steal it off her, but he was fairly certain they hadn't been successful.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, her eyes darting away from his.
"She didn't have a watch," one of the aurors said with a frown.
"Oh!" Sirius said, quickly throwing out a laugh. "Sorry, mates- I forgot she took it off before the task."
The auror looked like he saw straight through the lie, but Sirius didn't give him the chance to question it any further. He threw an arm over Lily's shoulders and then guided her away from the desk. Wherever the watch had gone, he'd figure it out later.
"Come on," he said, smiling for her, since she couldn't. "Let's go home. I'm sure Hermione's dying to ask you a million questions. And- we have a lot to talk about, too." He wasn't looking forward to any of it, but it needed to be done.
Lily let out a little choked laugh. "Knowing her, she'll have a scroll ready for notes, too."
"You're probably right," Sirius admitted, planting a kiss on the top of her head before pulling his arm away, just as they made it to the lifts. When one opened, Sirius blocked the way to prevent anyone else from coming inside. They rode in silence for a bit, and Sirius was happy to let it continue as long as she wanted it to.
"Who else is there?" she asked instead.
"Oh, the Weasleys," Sirius said. "And Ashley and Remus will be there, too, plus Maraktis and McGonagall."
"McGonagall?" Lily asked. "Really?"
"She insisted on it," Sirius said with a shrug. "Said it'd a great tragedy to miss your triumphant return. Dumbledore said he'd drop by, too."
"And where is there?" Lily asked after a moment.
"Home," Sirius said happily. "We've got all sorts of things planned for you- but if it's too much, I can tell everybody to go, and we can just-"
"No!" Lily said quickly. "It- it's fine." She chewed her lip for a moment. That broke his heart, just like it always did.
Her mother used to do that, too, he thought.
"Go ahead, Lily," Sirius said gently.
"Do you think I could go flying?" she asked in a small voice.
James liked to fly, too. The thought of him just made him feel even worse, though. It wasn't supposed to be me.
Sirius smiled at her reassuringly. "Of course, you can."
Lily didn't speak again after that, but, whenever he checked out of the corner of his eye, she seemed to be in better spirits. He almost asked about Fleur- about that night- but the last thing he wanted was to break Maraktis's one rule.
"Her first night back needs to be normal," he'd said. "That much, at least, we absolutely owe her. Nobody ask any questions- just make her feel loved."
As they walked through the lobby, Sirius stayed protectively close to her; he didn't like the looks she was getting from the others crowding the area, and quite a few seemed like they wanted nothing more than to shout or even throw something at her. Lily kept her head down and her eyes on the floor, and Sirius kept his hand on his wand, ready to curse anyone that dared. He checked his wand one last time, giving a little grunt of disappointment when he saw where her hand was.
She'll be at 'Home,' soon enough, Sirius thought.
"Come on," he said, offering his arm once they were past the security checkpoint. "Let's go home."
Lily grabbed his arm, and they disapparated.
They appeared in a grassy field, a few chickens milling about and occasionally pecking at the ground. A towering, leaning house stood in front of them, warm with lights, despite nobody being home. As their feet touched ground, Sirius felt a shiver go up his spine, despite how pleasant the setting sun felt. Only one person stood at the door of the Burrow: Albus Dumbledore, and he smiled pleasantly at them as Sirius took a step forward.
It took him four more to realize that Lily wasn't following him. He turned back and found her staring at Dumbledore with a nervous expression. That was when he noticed the others. Behind her and around the field, there were four more people: Tonks, Kingsley, Moody, and Snape.
"It's alright," Sirius said, his heart beating quickly. "They're just-"
Lily turned on the spot, but instead of disapparating like she'd been trying to, the grass extended and coiled around her, holding her tightly in place.
"Lily!" Sirius said, taking a step forward.
"Stay there, Black," Moody growled, walking forward with his wand pointed straight at Lily's chest. "Snape. Do it."
"You stay away from her," Sirius said dangerously. He started to draw his wand, but there were too many and-
"Apologies, Sirius," Dumbledore said, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "I'm afraid there is quite a bit of information I was withholding from you. Please- if you remain calm, all will be clear, soon, and no one need be hurt."
"You said we were checking for the Imperius," Sirius said quickly. "You didn't need to-"
"I'm afraid we must check for a good deal more than that," Dumbledore said, smiling sadly. "Please- do not try anything you would regret."
Sirius shook his hand off but watched as Snape produced a vial of clear liquid from his robes. Lily struggled as he approached, but without a wand of her own, there was nothing she could do.
I should have given her mine, he thought. He couldn't stand watching this, but he forced himself to do so. Snape reached up forced the vial past her lips.
"Veritaserum," Sirius mumbled. "Why?" They weren't supposed to be asking her questions today- Dumbledore gave his word.
"You see," Dumbledore continued as Lily started struggling again, "he's never been particularly good at blocking his mind. As soon as I saw him in her cell, I knew that we had a prime opportunity on our hands. We can gleam a vast wealth of information from him, and all without revealing Severus to our enemies. That- and Severus has an idea that I believe holds a lot of promise, should he be exactly who we believe he is."
"He?" Sirius asked.
"What is your name?" Snape asked coolly, drawing Sirius's eyes away from Dumbledore.
"Bartemius Crouch Junior," Lily growled.
No, Sirius thought.
"How long have you been disguised as Hazel Lily Potter?" Snape asked.
"Since June," Crouch said, his teeth- Lily's teeth- bared as he tried to fight off the potion. He laughed, then. "You'll never see the girl again. She is the Dark Lord's, now."
Happy Father's Day, she'd said, crying and smiling and looking happier than he'd ever seen before.
"You said it was her," Sirius said in horror. "I- in her cell, the- the first night. You said it was her."
"I did," Dumbledore said, nodding along.
"I-" Sirius licked his suddenly dry lips. "I- I thought she was acting strange, but- but I believed you. You said she was- was-"
"I did," Dumbledore said again, sadder this time. "I had to lie, Sirius. For our ploy to work, we needed the Death Eaters to believe theirs did."
He turned towards Dumbledore and grabbed him by the robes at his collar, the tip of his wand pressed against the old man's throat.
"Where is she?" he shouted. He saw Snape drawing his wand, pointing it towards him, but he didn't care.
"Calm yourself, Sirius," Dumbledore said.
"Let him go, Black," Snape said, sounding oddly calm.
Happy Father's Day.
"Where is she?" Sirius shouted, shoving his golden watch into Dumbledore's face, where Lily's hand still lied at 'Mortal Peril.' "Where is Lily?"