And Lily finally comes back after a very lengthy absence.

LILY XXX

When Lily woke up, she wondered for a moment where she was. She spent the last eight months travelling abroad, investigating trails of Bartemius Crouch Junior in over a dozen countries. Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Norway, Austria, Greece, Albania, Poland, Ukraine, Russia. She even shortly went to Armenia, only to realize this was another false track. As a result, when she opened her eyes to see the walls of her bedroom in London, she was confused.

She finally remembered that she came back home yesterday, after receiving orders from Amelia Bones through a very short message that said that Bartemius Crouch Junior was back in England. She arrived in the middle of the night, exhausted, and went to bed immediately. Lily stood up and looked around. She was glad to be back, to reunite with the familiarity of her apartment. And yet, this place almost looked foreign to her. She also felt bitter to not have succeeded in her mission. Crouch Junior was still running.

Slowly, she went to the kitchen and prepared herself some tea. A thin layer of dust had settled everywhere in the place. She would have to take care of this. But first, there were more important things to do. There was a message on her table that her owl must have brought during the night. It instructed her to be at the Ministry in about thirty minutes. Lily quickly ate a small breakfast and headed out.

It was still mostly night outside. The sun had not begun to cast its light through the windows. As soon as she was in the entrance hall, she Apparated and arrived in the atrium, which was almost empty. She took one of the lifts and headed for level two. The Auror Headquarters were almost empty as well, but anyway this wasn't where Lily was heading. Instead, she went to the office, and the assistant in front of it let her in. Inside, she found Amelia Bones, Bartemius Crouch and Miranda Savage already in discussion. They stopped the moment she walked in.

"Evans," Madam Bones. "Welcome back. Please sit." Lily took the seat she was offered.

"Let's go to the matter at hand," Mr Crouch said right away. Lily didn't expect any welcome from him in the first place anyway. "These months of search in Europe have been useless."

"We could say the same about our search here in the United Kingdom," Amelia declared. "But it is untrue. We have a better idea of where your son might be, Barty."

"All that we know is that he is back in England. He could be anywhere on the island, and we have no idea where it is."

"Most likely in Scotland," Miranda said. "We're closing on him. The elements that Evans and I gathered lead directly to this region. I believe he's been there for quite a while now, somewhere."

"You believe?" Crouch snorted. "My son is out there, doing who knows what, and you believe he is somewhere?"

"Barty," Amelia said, on a tone that cut short his tirade. "I understand that you want your son captured, but you're not leading this operation." Crouch remained mute after that, and she turned to Lily and Miranda. "We may have an opportunity though. If Crouch Junior is in Scotland like we suspect, then the Triwizard Tournament might give us an opportunity. As we all know, the third task is taking place in a few days. Delegations from many countries are coming for the event. We have coordinated with Dumbledore to increase the security around the castle for the event, and the Ministry is going to implement new measures for all Scotland during the event. This will give us a chance to catch our runaway. Crouch Junior might lay low during this period, but he may also not expect us to know he's in the surroundings. This is an advantage. We can deploy as many people as we can without raising his suspicions."

"He's not going to fall for it, Amelia," Mr Crouch then said. "My son is intelligent. He's always been very good at staying hidden. He's proved it over the last few months. He will not fall into such a trap."

"Maybe not, but we must try nonetheless. He didn't commit any crime to our knowledge since the Quidditch World Cup, but that doesn't mean he will not do any again. We must do everything we can to catch him before."

"I agree," Miranda said. "And sooner or later, he's going to make a mistake. That's when we will get him."

"Evans, you're going to join Savage to help her find Crouch Junior here."

"Are we sure that he is in Scotland? Do we have any idea of his location more precisely?" Lily asked. She was worried. Hogwarts was in Scotland as well. That meant that this criminal could be near Harry as they spoke, like Wormtail was last year.

"For now, we don't," Miranda answered. "But we're continuing the search. And I'm going to need you to find him."

"And this investigation remains secret," Amelia reminded them. "Now, I need to have a private conversation with Evans. Savage, Barty, please leave."

They did so. Lily found herself alone with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, not for the first time. Amelia looked straight at her.

"Evans, we must discuss a matter that you might find disturbing. So I will be direct. To your knowledge, can your son have visions?"

Lily was taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"I'm very serious, Evans. Is your son able to see things, for example through dreams, that he shouldn't? Events that would take place in the past, the future, or in other places?"

Lily wasn't really sure what to answer. She expected to be asked many questions about her travel in Europe, but certainly not this. And there was only one answer she could think of providing, because it was the only one that made sense.

"No."

"I see," Amelia simply said in return. "Just so that you are aware, Alastor Moody and Albus Dumbledore think he might."

Lily was really confused now. "What do you mean?"

"A few weeks ago, your son went to see Moody. And he told him about a dream he made. A dream where he saw Bartemius Crouch Junior. And according to his description, he saw him like he appears on the latest images we have of him, taken over the last few months. In other circumstances, I would have thought it was only a dream, but it is strange that he sees in dream Crouch Junior as he is today, when he never saw him and was certain that he was dead. Unless someone told him that we were looking for Crouch Junior."

Lily needed a moment to understand what Amelia implied. "No. No, that's impossible. I never mentioned Crouch Junior in his presence. He didn't know why I was away or about our operation."

"Is it possible that he may have found files, documents about the operation at your home?"

"No, I never brought any of them. They all remained in the Ministry the whole time. And anyway, when our investigation really started, he was back at Hogwarts."

"So there's no way he might have been aware of the search?"

"No. At least, not by me."

Amelia Bones seemed thoughtful for a moment. "Then this is… troubling. According to what he told Moody, he saw Crouch Junior discussing with Voldemort."

"What?" This caused a surge of distress in Lily.

"We don't know where or when, if we assume that he saw something real, but the circumstances are strange, nonetheless. This is why I need your opinion on the matter. Dumbledore and Moody take this very seriously. But you know your son better than anybody. So do you think that this dream could be real?"

Lily thought hard. Harry having real dreams? Dreams showing reality?

"No." Again, this was the only logical answer. "No, that's impossible. Harry never showed… any gift of vision." She wasn't even sure that this kind of capabilities was possible. "And… He's having nightmares about Voldemort from time to time. Especially since last year. The Dementors… Ever since he came face to face with them… They resurfaced memories… It must have been that."

Amelia nodded. "Maybe. But considering that Dumbledore and Moody think there might be something more to it, we will still keep a close eye on him. That's why I further reinforced the security around the third task. You will attend it, by the way. Families of the champions are invited to attend the last task."

"Oh… Well… It will be good to see him again."

"Just don't lose sight of our objective. We must capture Crouch Junior. And since he may be in Scotland, if he is there, we must arrest him before he may try anything on your son. Given what you found in Albany and Greece in particular, we must assume that your son might be his target and that this is why he went to Scotland."

Sadly, this was something Lily already thought about. "Yes, I agree. I don't want another fiasco like last year happening again."

"This wasn't a fiasco," Amelia said. "Things went out of hands, but no one was seriously injured or killed, except the criminal. And although I would rather have imprisoned Pettigrew, at least we kept people safe. Let's try to make better with Crouch Junior now. In another matter though, although this is a secret operation, I would need a general report on what happened during your travels in Europe, by tomorrow."

"Of course," Lily said.

"You may go."

Lily stood up and left the office. She then joined Miranda, who briefed her on her findings. Miranda was already aware of Lily's findings, thanks to the reports she sent to her regularly while she was abroad, but Lily wasn't as aware of Miranda's activities. She showed Lily everything they found about Crouch Junior in the United Kingdom, everything that led to the conclusion that he was very likely hiding somewhere in north of the country.

"That seems like an appropriate conclusion, based on the information we have," Lily said once Miranda was done. "I already suspected he had been back on the island for some time now. However, we cannot be totally sure that he is in Scotland right now. He could well be somewhere else in England."

"I know, but this is the most promising track that we have. Did Madam Bones talk to you about your son's dream?"

"So you know as well?"

"Yes, I do."

"And do you think there is something there?"

"With all the respect I have for Dumbledore, Moody, Madam Bones, you and your son, Lily, I don't really think that dreams are concluding elements."

"Me neither. Harry does have nightmares about Voldemort. It must simply be that."

"Probably. But Bones want us to consider it, so I do. Anyway, Scotland is our best target for now. I have developed a plan…"

They spent the next hour discussing their strategy to find Crouch Junior in a closed room, so that no one would hear their discussion. Lily then went back to her cubicle in the Auror Headquarters. She was welcomed there by some of her colleagues. Nymphadora and Kingsley were particularly warm and glad to see her again. She spent the morning writing her report, then attended a meeting where Aurors shared their investigations with everyone. They sometimes did this so that an Auror might get ideas from his colleagues to push his investigation further. Then it was lunch.

During lunch, someone else came to see her. A small man of Asian appearance sat in front of her.

"Glad to see you back," Gen Chang told her.

"Thank you, Gen. It's good to see you," she replied with a smile.

"I would ask where you have been for the last few months, but I know you can't. I already asked Mr Scrimgeour, and even he wouldn't tell me. There have been quite a few rumors about your departure though. Some even thought you were fired. I'm glad they were wrong," he added in precipitation.

"Me too. So, how have things been in my absence?"

"Oh, in the office, the same old thing. Things have calmed down since the Quidditch World Cup. Not much has really happened. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed with this year. With the Triwizard Tournament, I thought there would be more excitement. But it seems that it's mostly the people at Hogwarts who get to experience it."

"Well, we had the Quidditch World Cup. I don't really mind leaving our children to have their own little event."

"Me neither," Gen said, "but I wish I could have seen my daughter more often. With the tournament, all Quidditch games were cancelled. She hasn't played a single time. Well, she could have, when they organized that match between Hogwarts and a team with students from both other schools. But Cho wasn't chosen as Seeker. It was your son who got the position."

"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, really not knowing what he was talking about.

"Well, the game that they organized as part of the Triwizard Tournament. They had Beauxbatons and Durmstrang create a team that faced the best players of Hogwarts. You didn't know?"

"No. How did it go?"

Gen hesitated this time. "Well… Your son was injured during the game. He's alright, don't worry. But it was something to see. Believe me, I was there. He caught the Golden Snitch at the same time as Viktor Krum."

"He did?" Lily was surprised, not only that her son faced Viktor Krum and managed to take the Snitch against him, but also that both Seekers caught it at the same time. Was that even possible?

"Yes. That was something, like I said. I got to see Cho a little on this occasion. Don't take it personally, but I wish she had been the one to play as Hogwarts' Seeker on that day. I miss the time when I could see her play. And since… Well, since the accident, I haven't been able to see her play again."

Lily knew what accident Gen was talking about. After Pettigrew made its way into Hogwarts grounds, hiding inside the bag of Gen's wife, parents were not allowed to attend games afterwards.

"I'm sure they will allow us to attend matches next year," she reassured him.

"I hope so. I have to admit though… I don't know what to expect from her first game against Hufflepuff. Given…" Gen seemed embarrassed all of a sudden. "I don't know if you know, but my daughter has a boyfriend."

"No, I didn't know. Well, good for her. Congratulations, Gen." The man reddened a little. "Who's the boyfriend?"

"Eh, well… He's the other champion of Hogwarts. His name is Cedric. Cedric Diggory."

"Amos' son?"

Gen nodded. "Yes. Cho has been on a little cloud recently. She even… kind of participated to the second task. Each champion was tasked with bringing back from the depth of the lake next to Hogwarts someone they cared about… and Cho was brought back by Cedric."

"Wait. They placed your daughter at the bottom of the Black Lake?" Lily asked, outraged. And then realizing when the second task took place, she added. "In February?"

"Oh, yes. I had a similar reaction when I heard about it for the first time. But she didn't feel a thing. Dumbledore had her drink a potion that let her sleep the whole time she was under water. In fact, she seems to have loved the experience."

Lily wished she could take things as lightly as Gen was. She kept herself informed on the events of the Triwizard Tournament while she was in Europe, but only through magazines and newspapers, and they did not always tell the entire truth, when they told the truth. She only knew that Harry ended second in the second task, and that it involved recovering something from the lake, but she didn't know they had to bring someone to the surface. She thought it had been an object. Perhaps the Ministry of Magic had wanted to hide these details.

"I wonder who Harry had to bring back to the surface," she wondered aloud.

"Oh, I think… I think Cho wrote to me about it. Yes, she told me that your boy got the sister of another champion off the lake."

"Wait. The sister of another champion?" On that, Lily was truly confused.

"That's what she wrote. She said that he didn't want to come back to the surface if someone was left to the bottom of it. But it was useless. The merpeople in the lake were supposed to bring back whoever the champions could not save."

Lily thought about it. Well, she supposed that she shouldn't be surprised about it. Harry was courageous like his father. He risked his life two years ago to save Ginny Weasley. And even though she ordered him to run away, he came back to face Quirrell three years ago as she fought him, even though he had no wand on him. These actions were courageous, but stupid, endangering his life, sometimes for no good reason. He was indeed like his father on that. That made her worried and proud at the same time.

"Did Cho tell you how Harry was after the second task? Because of… what I was doing, I haven't contacted him for months," she explained to Gen.

"Oh. I didn't know that you didn't… Well, he's okay. Well, Cho told me he was okay. They were all cold when they came back to the surface, of course. They were in February, after all. But their lives were never in danger. And the people at Hogwarts took good care of them."

Lily sighed in relief. "Good. Is it true that they faced a dragon for the first task?"

"Yes," he nodded, looking embarrassed again. "But I don't think your son was injured. When Cho wrote to me after the first task, she mostly described an injury that Cedric got while facing his own dragon. He had… Well, nothing serious, and I think your son didn't have anything. She said that he faced his dragon with his broomstick. He flew past him."

"Are you kidding me?" Lily asked, unbelieving.

"No, I'm not. Even the Daily Prophet was talking about it the day after. It was everywhere. A journalist even compared his performance to that of Krum. And I must say, he was not far from the truth. Your boy really performed when he faced Krum during that Quidditch game."

Lily spent the next few minutes asking Gen further details about how her son played during that game of Quidditch. She wished that she had been there to see it.

"That match was really something," Gen assured her. "I'm glad we could attend it. The atmosphere was similar to that of the Quidditch World Cup. I'm really sorry you couldn't be there to see it."

"Me too," she replied. "You couldn't see the tasks? The tasks of the Triwizard Tournament?"

"No. We couldn't. Even the parents of the champions could not. I heard Amos Diggory complain about it once, and in length." He was silent for a moment then. "By the way, Lily, I suggest that you avoid Amos for the time being."

"Why? Is there something wrong with him?"

"Well… Let's just say that he didn't take very well that his son had to share the position of Hogwarts champion. He's been very vocal about it too."

Lily sighed in exasperation. She couldn't believe it. Didn't Amos realize that Harry never wanted to participate to this Tournament? She thought that she should have asked Amelia about where they were with the investigation to discover who did this.

"Look, Lily," Gen resumed. "I know that some people think that your son somehow managed to get into the Tournament. Some even think that you did it. But I don't. I know you well enough to be sure that you would never do such a thing, especially if it endangers your son. And Cho told me that she's certain that Harry has nothing to do with all that. And I believe my daughter."

"Thank you, Gen," she said, sincerely.

"And things are not so bad. Lately, Amos has mostly been boasting about his son's accomplishments. Ever since the second task, especially, since he won it." Gen chuckled. "I even got some of the glory since it is my daughter that the boy got out of the lake. Everyone in the Ministry now knows that my Cho is dating one of Hogwarts' champions." He took a more serious expression. "I don't think Amos is right to talk against your son. At the same time, as a father, I guess it is unavoidable."

"Well, forgive me for being so blunt, Gen, but Amos is really an idiot if he believes that my son managed to get into this competition, with all the measures Dumbledore put into place. Or to think that I would willingly send my only child into a competition where he might well die."

"I get it. I'm just saying… that maybe it was inevitable. And those articles in the Daily Prophet didn't help either. Rita Skeeter has been wandering around the place for months now. She's been asking questions about you all the time. Don't worry, I didn't tell her anything."

"Rita Skeeter." Lily rolled her eyes. "I guess she invented lots of things on me while I was away."

"No. Luckily enough, she didn't. Maybe Mr Scrimgeour and Madam Bones put pressure on the Daily Prophet to keep her silent. I wish she had been as silent on your son."

"What did she write about him?" she asked, exasperated.

"Nothing very serious. An article on him at the beginning of the Tournament. Another about a love triangle in which he was involved later…"

"Stop, Gen. No need to say further. No truth in that, I'm sure."

"Probably. When she wrote about the Tournament in November, she didn't even mention Amos' son."

"I guess the Boy Who Lived was more interesting than the son of a random employee in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," she said sarcastically.

"Probably. Well, we know that all she's looking for is the best story that will sell the most. Though…" He seemed to think for a moment. "Now that I think about it, the girl that Skeeter talked about in one of her articles on your son… I think you talked to me about her before."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. A girl who's in the same year as your son. You said she was his best friend. Very intelligent, first of her class. She had Muggle parents."

"Hermione Granger?"

"Yes! That's her name. That's who Skeeter wrote about in her articles. I knew I had heard her name before. I think… I think Cho mentioned that she was in the lake too during the second task. Is she really your son's girlfriend?"

The question took Lily aback.

"Not to my knowledge," she replied, quite uneasy. "They have been friends for years now, but I never… Well, who knows?" She looked at her watch, wishing to change subject. "I have to get back to work. Thank you for the conversation, Gen."

"My pleasure. Oh, by the way, good luck for your son at the third task. I hope everything will go well."

"You're not alone in that."

Lily left on that, heading back to her cubicle. There, she began to go through a pile of correspondence that arrived during her absence. A large part of it was handled by some of her colleagues while she was away, but she had to manage some of it on her own.

At the same time, she thought about Harry. The third task would indeed take place in only a few days. She hoped that Crouch Junior wouldn't try something against him. Pettigrew had tried, on Voldemort's orders. He failed, but he was very close all the same. She had to protect her son from this new threat.

At the same time, she also worried for what could happen during this task without links to Voldemort. The third task in itself would certainly be very dangerous. If the first one was to fight a dragon and the second one to reach the bottom of the Black Lake in the thick of winter, then the third task might be even worse. Even after months, she raged about the fact that they allowed her son to compete in such a contest.

At the same time, if Harry managed to get through the previous tasks, and even to end ahead of the other students, then the odds were probably more in his favour than she might fear. Harry was talented for his age. He got top marks last year in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Remus and Alastor both told her he had the making of a future Auror. He could create a Patronus. And she couldn't deny his accomplishments outside school. As worried as he made her, he also made her proud to be his mother. She knew that James would have been proud of him too.

She wondered how James would have reacted if he had been there. When Harry's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, would he have clapped his back in congratulations or broken the teeth of the people who let him go into the Tournament? She realized that she didn't know. And how would he have reacted to the news that Harry had a girlfriend?

Lily was chocked at the Quidditch World Cup when she heard Harry and Hermione discuss, and her son admitted that he dated a girl from their year, with Lily never knowing about it. She knew that Harry was no longer with that girl. She heard him say so to Hermione, and he also confirmed it to Sirius. What kind of love triangle could Rita Skeeter have written about? Did she make up that Harry was now dating Hermione and that another girl was angry after him because of that?

Truth be told, Lily didn't care much about Rita Skeeter's words. She knew they were half-truths at best, worse in most cases. But for once, she had to admit that she wouldn't mind if she said the truth and that Harry and Hermione were together. Lily had always liked Hermione. Only, if that was the case, she hoped that Harry would tell her this time when they would be reunited.

She chuckled at the thought of it. She continued going through her mail, and she spent the day getting reacquainted with ongoing cases and preparing for the next days. Her return did not mean a well deserved rest. They still had a fugitive to arrest before he could do any more harm.

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Next chapter: Cedric (and the third task)