The end of the year.

A character makes a first appearance three years sooner than in canon.

LILY VIII

"Level Two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters and Wizengamot Administration Services."

The cool female voice announced the floor as the doors of the lift opened. Lily walked out. The enchanted windows on the walls showed a huge storm going on outside, which was completely in contrast with today's actual weather, a sunny day without a single cloud on the horizon. Lily wondered if that storm was representative of the meeting she would have in a few minutes.

For probably the hundredth time today, she took the letter she received this morning and read it.

Dear Mom,

Dumbledore gave us one hundred and fifty points for what happened in the dungeons. We won the House Cup. You should have seen Draco Malfoy's head.

Eager to get back home. I love you.

Harry

She smiled while reading it once more. Slytherin had previously won the House Cup for six consecutive years. No wonder Harry was happy about it. She was as well. She could imagine how Snape was angry when it happened. McGonagall was probably on a little cloud. More important, Harry would be home soon. She looked forward to spending the summer vacations with her son, especially after the first year he got at Hogwarts. She wouldn't let him out of her sight.

The oak doors gave way as she pushed them. She put back the letter into her pocket. On the other side, Aurors were busy working like always. After a few months spent here, the gazes on Lily whenever she walked somewhere and the whispers that accompanied her behind her back had diminished, but there were still some.

On her way to the office of Rufus Scrimgeour, as she walked through the cubicles, she came across Kingsley Shacklebolt, the only Auror who truly welcomed her when she arrived. He looked up as she approached, and bowed his head in salutation. Lily returned it and continued on her path.

She arrived in front of the office. Scrimgeour's assistant was still standing guard there, working.

"Mr Chang. I have an appointment with Mr Scrimgeour," she told him.

Gen Chang looked up to her. "Yes. He will available soon." He then squinted. "I didn't see you during the last weekend."

Lily was caught off guard. What did he mean? "We were supposed to meet?"

"Well, my daughter played her first Quidditch game, and it was against Gryffindor. I didn't see you in the crowd."

Yes, of course. Harry had missed the match because he was still in the infirmary. And of course, Lily didn't attend because she was with her son the whole time. "My son didn't participate to the game."

"A pity. Cho was really excited to face him."

Cho. Why did she have the feeling that she heard this name before? Before she could ponder on this, Scrimgeour's door opened. An Auror with a black beard came out and the Head of the Auror Office saw Lily waiting. He indicated her to come with a simple gesture of his hand.

"Have a good day, Mr Chang," she told the assistant.

"You too, Mrs Evans."

The door closed behind her after she entered the office.

"Please sit, Mrs Evans," Scrimgeour told her. He sat as well and looked at her. "I find myself in quite an unusual position. One of our trainees, you in this very case, missed several days of training, including two crucial tests, for reasons that she didn't care to explain to the Ministry. This is enough reason to expel a trainee from our program."

This is what she feared. However, against all expectations, including her own, Lily didn't feel afraid. The news had no effect on her. On the contrary, she felt... relieved. After Harry recovered from their fight against Voldemort and left the hospital wing of Hogwarts, Lily left the castle as well and returned home. It was then that she was informed that, due to her absence, she missed and failed two tests in her training. She was later summoned by Rufus Scrimgeour himself to discuss the matter. She had been expecting and worrying about this meeting for the past week. She had continued her training in the meantime, on orders from Scrimgeour. She thought it was a good sign, that they still wanted her to finish her training, but maybe she was being too optimistic.

The recent days had been emotionally charged for Lily. She had fought Voldemort, or at least the servant with who he shared his body, and she was gravely injured. Though this was nothing compared to the injuries her son sustained. She thought her heart might stop when Harry rushed on Quirrell, without a wand, without any weapon, only with his hands, and knocked him on the floor. She really thought she would lose him. But she didn't. Harry survived, although not unscathed. She spent three days watching over him in the infirmary, refusing to sleep, even to eat at the beginning. She then spent another whole day with him after he woke up, until he finally left the hospital wing. She missed important parts of her training due to this, but she didn't regret it. If sacrificing her training as an Auror and a potential future career was the price to pay to protect her son's life, and to prevent the assassin of her husband to return, then it was a sacrifice she was willing to make, and to accept.

"However, in normal circumstances, I don't receive this." Scrimgeour dropped something, a piece of paper, certainly a letter, on his desk. "This is an account from Albus Dumbledore of what recently happened in Hogwarts. I'd like to hear your version of the events."

Lily was surprised by the request. She went on explaining what happened nonetheless in the dungeons of Hogwarts and how she ended there. The letter she received from her son. The discovery that he and two of his friends were not in their dormitories during the night. Lily going into the dungeons to find them. Her encounter with Hermione and Ronald. The obstacles she had to get past through. And her duel against Quirinus Quirrell who served as a host to Lord Voldemort's spirit. It was better to tell the truth, as unbelievable as it may seem.

The Head of the Auror Office listened to her attentively, betraying no emotion or reaction. He then asked her how her son ended up in these dungeons in the first place. She then explained how the Philosopher's Stone found itself in that place, and that Harry discovered someone was trying to steal, without giving too many details on his research. When she was done explaining, Rufus Scrimgeour's lips tightened. He stood up like an automaton and went to take something from a filing cabinet. He then dropped the file right in front of Lily on his desk.

"Take a look at it," he ordered.

Lily wasn't sure what this was about. So she opened the file. It was a new training schedule.

"If that story had come from anybody else, I would have thought this was a tale for children. But seeing that Dumbledore himself confirms your story, I think it is true. So we may as well consider that those two tests you missed were useless for you, in light of your accelerated training program."

Indeed, Lily could see it. The schedule contained her new program for the next... two years! Two years, instead of two and a half years. Her training was shortened as a result of some tests and courses being removed from her schedule. She expected to get expelled, and instead she felt that it was like she received a promotion.

"We cannot make you an Auror right away, Mrs Evans, but it is obvious that some of the training we provide to all our trainees would be wasted time for you, and for the Ministry. If you are to become an Auror, I would rather have you take the position earlier."

"Thank you, Mr Scrimgeour." She struggled to keep emotions out of her voice. It didn't take a lot for her to get emotional with recent events.

"I want to be sure," Scrimgeour went on. The man was already serious all the time, but this time there was additional gravity to his behavior. "You really fought the Dark Lord? He's still alive?"

"Yes, he is."

The Head of the Auror Office tightened his lips further, and patted his own fingers while his hands were crossed, not leaving Lily's eyes for an instant. He stood up.

"There aren't many people who would believe it," he then declared. "He tried to use the Philosopher's Stone to get his powers back, I guess?"

"Yes, and he would have succeeded if the Stone had fallen into his hands," Lily said.

"Then we're lucky you were there. I was an Auror during the last war. I never faced the Dark Lord, but I fought his disciples, Death Eaters, werewolves, Inferi, giants... If he is still out there, then he is a real danger."

He said nothing for quite a moment, as if he was lost into his thoughts. "Go back to your training, Mrs Evans. We might need Aurors like you sooner than we thought."

Lily left the office. The meeting went quite differently from what she expected. She looked at her new schedule as she walked out. There was a lecture beginning in ten minutes by an American Auror who would tell them about the strategies employed oversea to track and capture dark wizards. They were still early in the morning, so Lily supposed she had enough time to attend. The Hogwarts Express and Harry would not arrive before the evening.

Lily took place in the back of the seminar room when she arrived. She preferred to stay there as much as possible, attracting less attention in this way. Even in the United States, Voldemort's demise was a known event, and the name of Potter was famous. She would rather not take the risk of having any American Auror recognize her, even through odds were reduced after more than ten years and she didn't have a scar like Harry did. Still, she wouldn't take any chance.

Lily had found a place alone. She started to read the summary of the conference and the short biography of Bertrand King, today's speaker. He was born in Canada but moved to the United States later and became an Auror there. He was responsible for cold cases in America, for example when a dark wizard had disappeared for too long, or a murder wasn't solved after more than three years. Perhaps he worked on the disappearance of Peter Pettigrew, since Ministries of Magic from all countries were collaborating with the one of Great Britain. Not that it helped so far. Kingsley told her they still had no idea where he might be.

A young woman sat abruptly next to her, winded. "So, what is it about today?" she asked Lily, taking parchments, quills and ink out of her bag she had dropped unceremoniously at her feet.

"Don't you read your schedule?" Lily asked. She found it strange that another trainee didn't know the subject of the conference today.

"I woke up late, and I had to rush in. Damn, I forgot that important work I had to give today. I'll have to go back home during lunch time, and rush back here again."

As the young woman was arranging her stuff on the very small table in front of every chair, she knocked over her ink, which spread on all her parchments.

"Argh! Not again," she complained. "It's the second time this week. Excuse me, would you have some parchments to share? I'll give you some back, I promise," she asked Lily.

"I think we should first clean all this. Scourgify." The ink stain disappeared from the desk. Then Lily cast it a second time to remove it from the parchments that were sullied, and a third time to clean the ink that dropped on the floor.

"Thanks," the young woman said, grateful. She could now use the parchments she previously soiled. "I never managed to be good with cleaning spells. Totally unlike my mother. You should see her. She cast a cleaning spell on a cabinet, and it cleans everything inside and outside, visible or invisible, to the most inaccessible corner. When I try, she always points me a small spot where there is still dust, even after my fifth attempt. And don't start me on how she berates me when I can't clean the toilets perfectly."

Lily muffled a little laugh. This young woman was clearly not even twenty, like most of the trainees in the program. She must have gotten out of Hogwarts maybe a year ago. Had it been a year sooner, she might have seen Harry during the Sorting. Looking at her, she thought that the girl might have attracted a lot of attention. Her appearance was quite out of norms. She had her hair short, spiky, and it was dyed in a pink color that reminded Lily of bubble gum. Even her attire seemed out of place. In the Muggle world, some would have said that she was following the punk style. However, at first sight, she gave more the impression of an excited young girl rather than a homeless woman who smoked and cared about nothing around her.

The lecturer arrived at this moment. He talked for hours until lunch break. Lily took notes of everything he said. She was back at her time at Hogwarts, where she noted every word from her professors. She advised Harry to do the same before he embarked on the Hogwarts Express the first time. She wondered, while listening to a detailed account of a wizard's chase that lasted twenty years, if her son applied this advice throughout the year.

At lunch time, her young neighbor rushed back to her home like she said she would. Lily bought herself a sandwich for lunch and ate it alone while reviewing her notes. That was something the Lily who studied at Hogwarts wouldn't have done. She would have taken her lunch with her friends, like Mary. But today's Lily was a solitary woman, a single mother whose best friend was her son, who remained far from the others. While in the world of Muggles, she didn't want to get too close to her colleagues, since she still had a foot in the world of magic. And this habit to avoid company followed her at the Ministry of Magic ever since she began her training.

Lily was eager for the day to be over and to head for King's Cross. She read her son's short letter once more before the young woman came back for the rest of the conference, out of breath again.

"I managed to give my work... just in time." She toppled a few chairs on her way back to the place just next to Lily. "Again! I always make things fall!" she raged, and went to replace the chairs in question, making at least two others fall in the process.

Lily had to admit that she found her clumsiness quite entertaining. Lily had the impression that her hair looked more red than pink now. The lecturer came back, and Lily noticed when looking at her watch that the conference was about to resume. She prepared some more blank parchment to take additional notes.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Tonks," the young woman next to her told her.

"Tonks?" Lily asked.

"Family name. Don't ask me my first name. I refuse to give it."

"Tonks..." she whispered.

The American Auror started talking again, explaining how keeping in touch with Muggles' police forces could prove vital in solving cold cases. Muggles sometimes gathered evidence that could lead wizards on a track to find a runaway assassin, for example. Lily listened only with a single ear, thinking about what her neighbor just told her. Tonks. She knew that name.

The conference lasted another two hours, and ended with a conclusive speech about how solving cold cases was vital to ensure the work of Aurors was complete. Lily had some time ahead of her before the Hogwarts Express would arrive, but she decided she would go to the Platform right away and wait. This was a beautiful day, unlike what the enchanted windows wanted them to think, and she could continue studying while waiting for Harry. Her companion for the conference though, had a lot to say before she left.

"Well, boring hours," she stated flatly. "I hope the speaker will be more entertaining next time."

"Aurors cannot be perfect, Nymphadora," Lily told her.

At the mention of her name, the young woman knocked another chair. "How... How do you know my name?"

"The last time we met, you were only five-years-old, and you had yellow hair back then."

The look of consternation on the young woman's face, and the change of color of her hair from red to violet, was amusing to witness. "Do we know each other?"

"Let's just say that your mother's cousin is the godfather of my son." Nymphadora's expression was even more bewildered than ever. "Say hello to your mother for me. Tell her it comes from Lily. She'll understand."

She left Andromeda's daughter there. She wondered how much time it would take to Nymphadora to realize who Lily was. This conference was the first she participated to that were only accessible for trainees in their second year. So it was no surprise that there were people in the assistance who never met her and didn't know yet who she was. She was surprised though to discover that Andromeda's daughter was training to become an Auror as well. Maybe her training would prove more entertaining than she thought.

Lily left the Ministry by the visitor's entrance this time. King's Cross wasn't very far away, so she walked to her destination. Once inside the railway station, she crossed the barrier and ended on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The railway line was empty for now. It would probably take another two hours before the train arrived. In the meantime, Lily read something for her training. She waited for a very long time, and only within the thirty minutes before the Hogwarts Express arrived did parents and families of the students began to pour on the platform.

"Mrs Lily!"

Before Lily could look up, she heard running footsteps on the ground and, when she actually looked up, a little girl with fiery red hair was standing in front of her. Like every time Lily had met her, her presence brought a sincere smile upon her face.

"Hi Ginny. I didn't expect to see you so soon. You look radiant today. Did you come here all alone?" Lily asked, knowing very well the answer as Ginny's face turned red.

"No, she didn't." Molly Weasley was not far away. Lily had remained sitting on the bench to speak at Ginny's level, but she stood up to welcome Molly. "It's good to see you, Lily."

"You too, Molly. No husband yet?"

"No, he's still at work." Lily noticed Ronald's mother looked exasperated. "And from what I can see, you are pretty occupied as well," she added while pointing to her books and parchments she left on her seat. Lily stowed them back into her bag with a wand movement.

"Training to become an Auror is not a full-time job. It is an overtime job."

"Yes, it's true," Molly said, seemingly through realization. Lily had told her when they met for the Quidditch match against Hufflepuff that she had started training to become an Auror. "How is it going by the way?"

"Quite well. I even managed to reduce the time I'll need to get through the training. Two and a half years instead of three."

Molly seemed quite surprised. "How did you do it?"

"It seems that fighting and surviving Voldemort earns you some points."

She was talking as much about herself as about Harry when she said that, but it earned her a grimace from Molly, who obviously wasn't used to hear the name, and a small shriek from Ginny. On that, Lily felt guilty as she should have been more cautious.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have said the name," she apologized to both the mother and the little girl, but especially to Ginny.

"I..." Molly then looked at her daughter. "Ginny, stay here for a moment. Don't go anywhere."

Lily noticed that the little girl was quite displeased to stay aside, but she did it all the same. Lily understood her mother afterwards when the subject Molly wanted to discuss was confirmed.

"I didn't want to believe what Ron wrote in his letter, but..." she whispered as they were a little far from Ginny. "Then Professor Dumbledore wrote to me about it as well. They both said you saved Ron's life."

"I found him in the dungeons when I went down there. He was being helped by Hermione Granger. She saved him as well."

"Thank you." She pulled Lily into an embrace.

"I just did what every mother would do."

Molly broke the embrace and sighed. Lily could see that tears were threatening to break. "I'm not sure if I would have been able to. I mean... You-Know-Who... Was it really him?"

"Yes, it was him. Believe me, if someone can recognize this man, it's me."

"I can't believe that... my Ron almost got close to him."

"Your son was lucky. Mine not so much." She didn't say it as a reproach, but Molly confounded herself in excuses.

"I'm sorry. I just... I thought that letters about Fred and George blowing up toilets would be the worst I would have to endure this year, but this? What were they thinking, keeping a Philosopher's Stone in a school?"

On that, Lily shared Molly's exasperation. "Well, there is no Stone anymore, so they should be fine from now on."

Lily wasn't sure if she was trying to convince herself or Molly. For ten years, she and Harry remained far from Voldemort. He had disappeared from the world and their lives after that night when James died. She almost began to think he would never come back. But now, after seeing him, confronting him, she knew deep down that he would come back, sooner or later. Dumbledore said so to her while Harry was still recovering. He also brought up the topic of the prophecy, and the fact that Harry would have to be made aware of it sooner or later. Lily had cut him short there. She wouldn't have Harry know about this. Luckily enough, Dumbledore was of the same opinion for now, since Harry was only eleven, but he warned her that the day would come when he would have to know. Not before I want him to know, she had warned Hogwarts' Headmaster.

"I should get back to Ginny. Please, don't tell her what happened," Molly asked.

"I promise," Lily replied.

The little girl was waiting for them impatiently. "What were you talking about?" she asked immediately.

"Something that doesn't concern you, Ginny," her mother replied.

"I'll be in Hogwarts in September. I'm almost eleven."

"It doesn't matter. These discussions are not for your ears."

"I want to know."

She looked defiantly at her mother, who crossed her arms. Lily guessed it meant clearly she wouldn't tell anything. Ginny then looked at Lily with the same expression, and when Lily kindly shook her head to mean she would tell nothing, the little girl seemed very upset and looked away, saying nothing. This one had some character. Relating on her own experience at this age, Lily decided it was better to let her sulk in her corner for a time. She turned to Molly.

"So, any plans for you and your children this summer? Your son Ronald told me you visited one of his brothers in Romania during the Christmas holidays."

"Yes, we did. In fact, I feel a little guilty about this," Molly added while whispering. "We only brought Ginny with us and almost told the boys to stay at Hogwarts because the trip would have cost too much if we had all gone there. We are not... very rich."

Lily already knew it. Ronald let it escape his lips while he was staying at their home for Christmas. She knew that Arthur Weasley, Molly's husband, worked for the Ministry of Magic, and was heading the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. According to Ronald when he had talked about his father's job during the holidays, it was the most boring job in the Ministry of Magic and his father only had an assistant under his orders. That probably meant he didn't receive a large remuneration. Add to this that Molly was a stay-at-home mother and they had seven children, including five who still lived at home, and Lily could imagine it was sometimes hard to make ends meet. She herself sometimes struggled in the world of Muggles, being a single mother working full time while taking care of her son, but she never had to make huge sacrifices for Harry. Their lifestyle was simple, they always had more than enough to eat, and never lacked anything that was essential. However, since she went back to live in the world of magic, Lily had found herself in a much more comfortable position. James' fortune, which was hers now, ensured all her needs and Harry's while she could follow her Auror training. Monetarily speaking, they had absolutely nothing to worry about.

She had thought Ronald might be exaggerating when he said how his family was poor and his father's job was boring. She told him back then about how her own job among the Muggles was boring and badly remunerated. It had seemed to lift up his spirits a little, but she was beginning to wonder if there was more truth to what he said.

"Well, for me and Harry, it will be a stay-at-home summer. My training will not stop during his vacations," she said, trying to get the attention somewhere else and showing Molly they would not be the only ones to stay at home.

"So you're going to work the whole summer? No vacation at all?"

"No. Especially not with my accelerated schedule. I'll try to be at home the most I can. I don't want Harry to be alone the whole summer, or else it will get boring very quickly for him."

"Well, if you want, he can come to our home whenever he wants," Molly offered. "Ron already asked me about it, and I would really be happy if his friend could come."

"It's a good idea," Lily said. "We will find a time."

"Wait, Mom." It was Ginny who addressed Molly. The sulking time was over. "Harry Potter is coming home this summer?"

"Maybe," her mother said.

This seemed to excite Ginny very much. Lily was afraid all of a sudden, but she brushed away the concern right away. Ginny was only a child. And being excited about having her son under your roof was to be expected from most of the people.

The platform kept being filled with more parents and families waiting for their children. Lily's own parents had pulled her into a tight embrace when she had come out of the train after her first year, and even Tuney was smiling back then. It was the beauty of these kinds of moments, whether you were leaving for or coming from Hogwarts. You were happy to go to school and sad to leave your parents at the same time, or the opposite. Lily, Molly and Ginny kept talking about the upcoming summer, about Hogwarts since Ginny had a lot of questions about it, and about the children. From Ginny, questions about Harry came up a little too often to Lily's taste.

Finally, the locomotive's whistle was heard, and they felt the ground shaking as the train approached. The locomotive soon rode inside the station, followed by the many wagons behind that carried the hundreds of students coming home for the next two months. Parents pressed each other along the lines in the hopes to see their children through the windows of the compartments. Lily lost sight of Molly and her daughter in the process. When the train stopped, children began pouring out of the wagons immediately, from the first-years who jumped in their parents' arms to the graduates who now behaved like adults.

Lily searched for her son, but it was difficult to see if he was already on the platform with the crowd that had gathered around the train, or to distinguish his voice among all the others. But then she heard someone's voice she could not mistake for any other, either by the words she said or by her tone.

"There he is, Mom, there he is, look! Harry Potter! Look, Mom! I can see..."

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point," Lily heard Molly berate her daughter.

Lily continued to look around where she thought the voice came from, and located her son. Harry saw her immediately and walked to her right away.

"Hello, Mom," he told her as she hugged him.

"It's good to see you, my dear." He broke the embrace and turned to the girl behind him.

"You remember Hermione?"

"Of course, I do. We saw each other quite recently, after all. You haven't found your parents yet?"

"They're waiting for me on the other side of the barrier," Hermione answered.

"Well, you have all your things with you? Yes? Then let's go. We must not keep Hermione's parents waiting."

On their way, Lily waved a hand at Molly who was still waiting for her children to come out from the train.

"Hey, see you two over summer yet," Ronald shouted. Both Harry and Hermione said goodbye.

Harry turned to his mother. "Ron invited me to spend some time at his home during the summer," he explained.

"That's alright. I talked with his mother. We'll find a good moment for that," Lily assured.

"Oh, and Hermione could come home some time as well?" he asked.

"Of course, if her parents are okay with that?" Lily asked to the girl.

"If you can guarantee them that your food is not corrosive for teeth, there should be no problem," she said. Lily found it quite funny, and Harry too, though Hermione seemed very serious.

On the other side of the barrier, they met Hermione's parents. After a few words, they went their separate ways, but not before Harry and Hermione promised each other they would call during summer.

"I gave her our phone number while in the train," Harry told his mother afterwards. "It doesn't bother you?"

"Not at all. Only, we have a different phone number now, remember?"

Harry groaned. "No, I forgot about it."

"You have hers?" He nodded on the affirmative. "Then you'll call her and give our new number. In the meantime, let's get home."

"Where is it?" Harry asked as they arrived on the streets.

"Not far away."

"Where's your car?"

Lily smiled. "We don't need a car to get there."

They walked through the streets of London, heading for their new home.

And so ends the first book where Lily Evans lived. Now, some have asked me to continue with the following books. I can reassure you, I'm planning to cover all seven books through this fanfiction. The Chamber of Secrets is beginning in a few days.

Please review.

Next chapter: Hermione