A/N: I don't remember what I was thinking with this one.

Lily Potter and the Unspeakables
by Roff

CHAPTER ONE

Mr. Potter,

I would like to invite you to join me in the Department of Mysteries on Tuesday next. We have much to discuss and no it has nothing to do with what you and your friends did at the end of your fifth year. Many prophecies were destroyed, but rest assured we needed to clean out many of those anyway. Besides, the most important ones are always backed up.

It has been a few years since then. We would have contacted you sooner had that been the reason behind my invitation to you. No, what you need to know in regards to this invitation is the fact that your mother, Lily Evans Potter, worked for our department. She started working for us as an Unspeakable right after she graduated from Hogwarts with her NEWTS.

I would like to show you some of her work, at least the parts I can share with you. We are a secretive organization after all. And, should you be interested, I would like to invite you to join us. All children to our workers are considered legacies and are given a strong look once they graduate. Not all receive an invitation but some, like yourself, would do well in our organization.

Should you decide to join us then you will have full access to all your mother's work and anything else that falls within your clearance.

Do please join me on Tuesday afternoon at 2:00pm. This letter will serve as a portkey. You merely need to tap it with your wand and say "Lily Potter." The portkey will deposit you in our waiting room. The receptionist will make sure I'm notified when you arrive.

Looking forward to our discussion.

Saul Croaker
Head Unspeakable
Department of Mysteries
Ministry of Magic, London

I lowered the letter I just read and thought over the invitation.

I wasn't aware that my mother was an Unspeakable. I was still playing catchup with all the Potter family information. I supposed that due to her being an Unspeakable, little could be said about her job.

There was so very little that I knew about my mother. She had such a short life and had joined the Potter family close to the end of it. If it weren't for the Potters then I likely would know even less about her.

However, given the few short years she and my father, James, had together as a married couple before they were killed, I was scrounging to find whatever I could about her. My Aunt Petunia certainly was no help.

I suspected, given my fame after killing Voldemort for the last time, that Saul Croaker knew more than he was letting on.

Most everyone seemed to know my life almost as well as I do since I was featured in the papers constantly. For instance, they knew that Ginny and I never quite felt the same way about each other after all the fighting was over. She had a rough time with her brother Fred's death that happened during the battle. All the Weasleys did, for that matter.

It was a tough time for everyone.

Too many people paid the ultimate price fighting for their freedoms in that stupid war.

They also knew that I gave up on my desire to be an auror. I just didn't want that anymore after everything I went through.

To be honest, I knew I'd been floundering of late. I had plenty of money, mainly from inheriting the Black fortune from my godfather. The Potters were fairly well off so I inherited that wealth too.

I had cleaned up and repaired the main Potter manor in Wales. It kept me plenty busy along with digging into Potter family history. There was quite a bit.

Consequently, I learned a lot about the Potters and a good bit about my father. However, my parents did not start dating until their seventh year at Hogwarts when they were head boy and girl. They were married about a year after graduating but were also right in the middle of the first war.

They graduated in 1978 and were married almost a year later in the spring of 1979. James lost his parents during December of that same year to Dragon Pox. I was then born in 1980. Fifteen months later they were both killed but they made sure I survived.

Those few short years while she was with my father and became my mother was basically all I had of her, other than some old school books and notes I found that she wrote in. She did not leave a diary, a journal, or anything else remotely similar.

I had spent my entire life up until I'd finally killed Voldemort knowing practically nothing about my own family. Once I settled down after the war, I immediately started looking into all the information that was now available to me.

It was very satisfying to learn about the long history of the Potters, and even the Blacks to a certain extent.

Mostly, I concentrated on the Potters though and as I learned more and more, it became quite obvious there was a severe lack of information on my mother.

Now that I understood Lily Potter was an Unspeakable, it made more sense that information was lacking about her.

I determined I should meet with Croaker and find out what I can. It was the best shot I had in discovering more about the mother who laid down her life just so I could live.


On Tuesday, I appeared via portkey in the waiting room for the Department of Mysteries, which was on the ninth level in the Ministry of Magic. I looked up right after I arrived and stared into the face of the receptionist, who looked to be just a few years older than me, but not much older than that, I thought.

Before I could speak, however, I saw her eyes widen as she recognized me. Something I was quite accustomed to seeing. She used her wand to send a message off immediately before she spoke to me.

"Director Croaker will be with you shortly, Mr. Potter. Can I get you anything to drink while you wait?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

I took a good look around me at the room, familiarizing myself with my surroundings, but before I could sit, a door next to the receptionist's area opened and out walked who I assumed to be Saul Croaker. He was an older gentleman with gray hair but had a lively step about him.

He walked right up to me and held out his hand to shake.

"Mr. Potter, it's an honor to meet you. I'm very glad you accepted my invitation," he finished as I shook his hand.

"Well, Mr. Croaker, you used all the right words to get me here."

"Out of curiosity, which ones resonated the most?"

"I believe that would be Lily and Potter."

"Ah! I see your point," he said smiling. "Shall we?" he asked as he gestured toward the door he had previously exited.

I followed him through a myriad of halls and past many doors before we stopped at his office door and entered. He gestured for me to have a seat at a chair in front of his desk while he made his way behind the desk to his own chair.

Once seated, he began.

"I suppose you would like a bit more information before making a decision. Am I correct about that, Mr. Potter?" Croaker asked.

"Yes, I very much would like to hear more."

"Well, to be honest, I can't say too much until you are an unspeakable yourself. I know that sounds like a catch-22 to get you signed up but this is the Department of Mysteries and our secrets have secrets, you understand.

"What I can tell you is that your mother was a highly intelligent woman and a very powerful witch. She made a name for herself here. Everyone in this department remembers what she accomplished in so little time. In fact, not one person here believes you took down Voldemort when you were 15 months old. They know very well that their colleague, Lily Potter, was responsible for that.

"She spent an inordinate amount of time studying the killing curse and how to combat it, safeguard against it, and so on. No one knew as much as she did about that curse. She was our resident expert on that subject.

"She also studied and learned a lot about Voldemort. She knew exactly what made him tick and how to manipulate him into certain actions. After looking at the work she left behind, we discovered she knew she would have to die if he found where your family was hiding. If Voldemort came after you, Harry, she planned on dying to enact the protection her research discovered. It was the only way she could find to save you if that scenario came to pass."

"And she willingly laid down her life just to save me," I added.

"Correct. She was an outstanding unspeakable but you and your dad always came first. She believed in family first, that's for sure.

"When Voldemort killed your father and came up the stairs to kill you, she enacted her plan with the runes she setup months earlier. She cast a spell she created herself and insured your protection from the killing curse once her life was taken. Then she goaded Voldemort into killing her with the killing curse to create the sacrifice needed in her plan.

"Once she was killed then you were fully protected. That's why the killing curse bounced off of you and took out the caster instead. Your mother was the best. It was her love for you that sealed the deal. Your father's love and sacrifice also played a part in that ritual. It added a booster to the protection. I suppose that's why the bounce back was so powerful it not only took down Voldemort it destroyed part of the house too."

"Thank you," I replied. "I've often wondered how they accomplished it."

"There are of course more details to that research, the ritual, etc. but that is all I can share you at this point. To know more would require you becoming an unspeakable like your mother. Then with proper secrecy oaths you will be all set to delve into that study and more

"Could I entice you to join us? I believe you will be a perfect fit. And as an extra incentive, as an unspeakable you will be able to move about freely but secretly. I know you are not fond of your fame so being an unspeakable will nullify that greatly."

"I will give it some serious thought, Mr. Croaker, and let you know by the end of the week."

"That will be fine. Looking forward to hearing back from you, Mr. Potter."