Where Lily prepares for exams, among other things.

LILY XXI

"Can I borrow your Encyclopedia of Poisons and Antidotes?" Nymphadora asked her.

"Of course. Suit yourself," Lily told her.

Lily had completed yesterday the essay they had to deliver next week. This essay was about the remedies to curses and how to break them, either through spells or potions. Andromeda's daughter was a little late in writing it. Lily, on her side, was studying human transfiguration, for which they would have an important evaluation next month, one of the last before the final exams of July that would decide whether or not they would become Aurors. Nymphadora had the chance to be a Metamorphmagus, so she didn't have to study much for that aspect of training. Lily didn't have this chance. As a result, she spent hours reading and practicing about the subject.

She cast a glance to the Maurauder's Map, laying on the table at the centre of the room.

"Calm down, Lily," Nymphadora told her. "If something appears on this map, an alarm will set off immediately."

She knew. Of course, she knew. Still, she preferred to take a look at it from time to time.

Ever since Wormtail managed to sneak onto Hogwarts' grounds, and under the request of the Ministry of Magic, Albus Dumbledore had allowed the Auror Office a room as a base of operations inside the walls of the school. This was the room where Lily and Nymphadora were right now. There was always at least one Auror in the place, with the Marauder's Map to detect the presence of Wormtail if he was to enter the grounds again. Spells were cast on the map so that the Aurors would be warned as soon as the map detected Wormtail's presence.

It had been over a month now that Lily, Nymphadora, Miranda Savage and Kingsley Shacklebolt took turns to occupy this room. It was in a largely abandoned part of the castle, and no one aside from Dumbledore was aware of the Aurors' presence in this place. Spells were put in place to maintain their presence a secret. And although the two Aurors and their two apprentices were all put in charge of tracking Wormtail, Lily and Nymphadora spent more time than Miranda and Kingsley at Hogwarts. The two Aurors had other investigations ongoing, and a guard duty was more appropriate for Lily and Nymphadora if they wanted to study at the same time.

Lily also spent time looking at her son. She often looked at the map to check on where he was, to make sure he hadn't left the fields of Hogwarts, and also to ensure that he wasn't wandering in forbidden places of the castle. Luckily enough, so far, Harry didn't seem to have inherited too much of the rule-breaker side James had. As a result, Lily often looked at his point in his bed at night. He spent his days going to his courses, and his evenings either in the Gryffindor common room or the library, probably studying, or training on the Quidditch pitch with the rest of his team. He also trained with Remus from time to time. James' friend hadn't stopped teaching him how to repel Dementors.

Lily had not attended the match between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. It was Nymphadora who joined the crowd, under the disguise of a random Hufflepuff student, while Lily remained in the room, staring at the Marauder's Map. Miranda judged that it was better for her to stay away, as she might not be vigilant enough if she stood nearby the pitch while her son was playing. Lily still rejoiced when Nymphadora came back after the game and described the victory Gryffindor won. More than anything else, Lily was glad that this time, neither Wormtail nor the Dementors came to cause trouble. She laughed when Nymphadora told her about Draco Malfoy's failed attempt to disturb Harry by disguising into a Dementor. The son of Lucius Malfoy was definitely no better than his father. Still, she was happy for her son, although still worried. The trails leading to Wormtail had gotten cold, and even though some still believed he might be in Hogsmeade, they couldn't manage to find him. That was part of the reason why Lily had argued with Dumbledore to let Harry continue to visit Hogsmeade while she would watch over him from afar.

As a result, Lily spent a lot of time looking at the point showing her son's movements as he moved from one side of the castle to another as days went on. She ended up noticing a lot of details on her son's whereabouts, such as his frequent visits to Hagrid or the time he spent with Remus one evening each week. She recently wrote to Remus, asking him to not bury Harry under too much practice for the Patronus Charm since his exams were approaching. Her own upcoming examinations and the vivid memories of her own exams when she was a student in Hogwarts reminded her how important it was that Harry be prepared for his.

She also looked closely at the people Harry spent the most time with. Without surprise, it was with Ron and Hermione he spent the most time with. Strangely enough though, Harry seemed to spend more time with Ron recently. Lily had come to notice how Hermione took little time to eat, as her presence in the Great Hall was always short and she often went to the library early in the morning or during lunch time. In the evenings, her point was always alone in the same corner of the common room. Harry had to be right when he said that Hermione had taken too many subjects this year.

As for Ronald, she noticed with time that even he spent less time with Harry and more at the library. First, Ron would almost always accompany Harry to his Quidditch training sessions, but now he spent them at the library. The exams were indeed taking everyone's time.

Lily also followed other names that drew her attention. She looked at Hagrid, who spent most of his time outside near his hut or in the Forbidden Forest, but who was also often absent. Harry had written to tell her about Buckbeak, and Lily felt sorry for the poor hippogriff, even though she had to admit to herself that she was more worried about Harry. There was also Remus, who disappeared during the full moons, for obvious reasons. There was also Snape, and she perceived every little detail when Harry was in the Potions classroom as a sign that Snape made his life miserable. Neville Longbottom, the son of Alice and Frank, seemed to be often in the same place as Ron and Harry. Her son didn't write a lot about Neville, and Lily regretted this. If someone deserved to be a close friend to Harry, it was this boy. He had lost both of his parents, unlike Harry who still had Lily. The two other boys in their dormitory, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, were not well known to Lily, and they seemed to stick together quite often. Oliver Wood, the captain of the Gryffindor team, was often discussing with Harry face to face. And then, there was also Cho Chang who Lily kept a close eye on.

Lily crossed paths with Gen a few days ago at the Ministry. Apparently, the Ministry had not yet completed the internal investigation about him and his wife. He asked her if she could do something so that he and his wife could resume their jobs. Lily had gone to speak to Kingsley. The Aurors had completed their own investigation on Gen and his wife, and concluded that they were victims as much as everyone else in the events that took place before the Quidditch match. However, to his knowledge, another investigation was ongoing about them. Kingsley suspected this had something to do with the Department of Mysteries, since Aera Chang was working there. The Unspeakables never spoke about their work, so Kingsley didn't know how the inquiry went on. In fact, there was officially no inquiry for now, but the rumor was that there was one. There wasn't anything Lily or anyone in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement could do, for the investigation on Gen and his wife was not conducted by them.

Lily still went to see Cornelius Fudge yesterday. The Minister of Magic had accepted to see her, and she carefully asked him whether there was an investigation on Gen and Aera Chang, and how it was going. The Minister, who initially greeted her with enthusiasm, didn't seem very willing to talk to her about it. But after Lily explained that she was worried for her own son, and after she reminded him that she was also part of the team working on finding Peter Pettigrew, Fudge finally indirectly confirmed there was still an ongoing investigation on Gen Chang and his wife. He never said that there was an inquiry. In fact, he told Lily that all official investigations on them were over. Still, some departments and services within the Ministry could lead secret investigations that forbade Cornelius from talking about them, due to their sensitivity. In the end, the best Fudge could offer Lily was a verbal assurance that Gen and Aera Chang were not involved in the attempt on Harry's life that day.

Lily wasn't sure if she could believe what Fudge told her. He could be hiding information. On the other side, it might be possible that the Department of Mysteries was leading a thorough investigation on Aera Chang, and that as a result, both she and her husband were forbidden from working at the Ministry. They might be going through all the work she ever performed for the Department of Mysteries. Very little was known of what they were doing, but one thing was sure, they didn't like one of their employees to be linked in one way or another to any crime or scandal. In the end, there was nothing she could do for Gen. And the truth was that, between the investigations Lily participated to and her preparations for final examinations, she didn't have much time to help Gen anyway.

In some way, looking after Cho Chang was a way for Lily to feel less guilty about what was happening to the girl's parents. Right now, the young girl was in the Ravenclaw's common room, with a large group of friends, probably sitting a table from their positioning. All these friends seemed to be girls.

"Anything interesting in the Ravenclaw Tower?" Tonks asked all of a sudden.

"No. Not really," Lily replied, attempting at the same time to turn her hair into a dark shade like coal.

"I went into their common room once," Nymphadora casually said. "After I took someone else's appearance, of course. Do you know that your hair just turned grey?"

Lily sighed. She must not have focused enough. With another turn of wand, she brought her hair back to its usual dark red shade. "What were you doing in the Ravenclaw common rooms? I thought you were in Hufflepuff."

"I was. But I was curious to know what their common room looked like. I visited those of Gryffindor and Slytherin too. Slytherin's was the worst, of course." That didn't surprise Lily much. "You never wanted to know how the other houses looked like?"

"Sometimes, yes. But it was forbidden to enter in another house's common room. I wasn't a rule breaker." James and his friends were.

"Well, Fred and George seem to be the kings of breaking rules nowadays," Nymphadora continued. "Though we make their lives a little more difficult."

Lily nodded. Tonks told her how she spotted them using the secret passage leading to Honeydukes the evening after Gryffindor won against Ravenclaw.

"Yes, Sirius and James would have loved them," Lily commented as she tried to turn her skin dark. "And they would have loved for Aurors to be present. It would have made for an exciting additional challenge."

"I can't blame them. I mean, I was a fan of Zonko and Honeydukes when I was a student me too," Nymphadora said.

"Yes, I get it. But I wish sometimes all these kids behaved more like adults."

"If that was the case, they wouldn't be kids. Don't tell me you would like Harry to be all serious."

Lily didn't answer, but she had to admit Nymphadora was right. She wanted Harry to have a normal childhood, and this involved behaving like a kid and doing stupidities. It reminded her of James sometimes. She only wished that behaving stupidly didn't involve getting in danger because of Wormtail.

"She's there alone, again?" Tonks asked, indicating the lone point who was Hermione in a corner of the Gryffindor's common room.

"She has too much work to do," Lily reminded the young woman.

"Isn't she the one who took all elective subjects this year?" Lily nodded. "I can't believe it. Who would be crazy enough to do this?"

Lily didn't think that Hermione was crazy, but she obviously had a lot on her plate. "Hermione sometimes wants to do too much," Lily explained while turning back her skin to its original color. "Once, I surprised her doing her homework with Harry, and she had prepared three different versions of it. And it was during summer."

Tonks' jaw dropped. "If she wasn't your son's best friend, I would believe her to be crazy." Tonks went back to looking at the map. "Hey, look. Ronald is with Hagrid."

"Yes, he spends a lot of time with him lately."

"That means Harry is alone… Oh, wait. No, he's not alone. He's with a girl."

This distracted Lily enough for her attempt to swell her cheeks resulting in a moustache growing on her face. Nymphadora didn't hesitate to laugh, and Lily quickly made this unwanted excess of hair disappear.

"Don't worry, Lily. He's studying alone. That was a joke. You should stop worrying about having a daughter-in-law."

Lily rolled her eyes and went back to her practice of human transfiguration. Sometimes, Tonks played that trick on her. And sadly, Lily recognized that she was a little overprotective when it came to Harry and girls. Harry was now thirteen and not that far from his fourteenth anniversary. He was at the age when children started dating. However, Lily was a little worried that some girls may want to date him only because he was famous, and this was the last thing she wanted. She knew she should stop worrying about this when there were much more important things to worry about, but she guessed that since her own parents worried about the same topic when she got thirteen, it was natural that she ended up worrying for her son as well.

It was all Harry's fault. Ever since he had her asking to a girl from his year which girl he should date, she started wondering if her son would date Hermione. So far, it didn't seem to be the case. Even the Marauder's Map didn't show them spending a lot of time together, and even less time when the two of them were alone.

Lily managed to increase her height by a foot, and also to make herself appear bigger. When she considered she trained enough, she turned to studying evasion tactics. These were particularly useful when trying to avoid not only being spotted by the targets you tracked, but also avoiding Muggle attention.

Nymphadora had to leave by the end of the afternoon. She had to use one of the training rooms at the Auror Office. Lily was left alone as she continued to study. At one moment, she noticed Harry heading to the Quidditch pitch, and later he was moving from one point of the stadium to the other in no time. That brought a smile to Lily. Even on a map, it was obvious that Harry more than enjoyed his godfather's present. She wished she had attended his last match.

Lily was done reviewing evasion tactics and just saw Harry leaving the pitch when a detection spell broke off. Immediately, she drew her wand and looked to the map in search of Wormtail, but she soon realized that this spell was not for Wormtail. It was the spell that warned them of someone approaching the room. Lily quickly looked at the surroundings of her current position. Remus Lupin was heading in her direction.

She sighed in relief and stopped the alarm. Remus kept approaching. He turned into the corridor where the room she stood in was located. He progressed along and stopped right in front of the door. Lily heard a few tappings on the other side. A few seconds later, his voice rose.

"Lily, I'm sure you already know I'm here. Can you open the door?"

Lily sighed again. It seemed there was no point in hiding anymore. The door to this room was so well hidden by a tapestry and a portrait that almost nobody knew it existed. Dumbledore himself said that even the professors were unaware of its existence, hence why he suggested the Aurors to take it for their hideout in Hogwarts. However, it seemed Dumbledore ignored that there was one professor who knew about its existence.

Lily waved her wand, and the door opened. Remus came in, looking as exhausted as usual.

"How did you know?"

"Well, since Dumbledore didn't give me back the map and that he didn't seem to have it in his office, I deduced he must have given it to you and the Aurors," he answered, mistakenly assuming what she was talking about.

"No, I meant, how did you know I was here?"

"I didn't. Not until a few moments ago. I've been patrolling in the corridors for some time, checking the places that others might not know." It was true. All teachers, not only Remus, patrolled quite often at all times of day. "I arrived in front of the portrait, and it indicated that someone was inside."

"How?"

"The apple's position slightly changes when it is occupied."

She didn't know about that. Dumbledore neither, apparently. They would have to deal with this, before someone else learned of their presence.

"Don't worry. I'll tell no one. And aside from me, James, Sirius and Peter, no one knows about this detail," Remus said.

"Well, we might still have to do something about it. But thank you for telling no one."

"So." Remus sat down. "Are you spending all your days here, looking after Harry?" He looked worried for her.

"No. There are other Aurors with me. We take turns. I'm not always here." Although in fact, she spent more time in Hogwarts than everyone else.

"Doesn't it cause problems for your training? I believe in the last weeks of…"

"My training is not as important as my son." She may have talked too harshly. "I'm sorry, Remus. This is not a problem. I work and study, and I can even practice some of my spells here. And like I said, I'm not spending all my time here. Nymphadora must stay here sometimes as well. This is part of our training."

Remus nodded.

"And you should worry about yourself rather than about me, I think. You don't look like you're feeling well."

Remus smiled a little. "I'm totally fine, Lily. In fact, I don't think I have been happier for years. I was worried when I accepted Dumbledore's offer to teach here. Even with the Wolfsbane potion and all the safety measures we placed around me whenever I transform, I was afraid that I would put someone in danger. But finally, it seems that I worried for nothing. I love this job. I love being back at Hogwarts. And I love my students too."

"They love you too. Harry tells me you are their favourite professor."

Remus dropped the head while smiling. "I'm sure they have a professor they love more. Or they'll appreciate me less after a few years, after the novelty wanes. That is, if I manage to stay more than a year. All my predecessors could not last more than that. Quirrell is even dead." Good riddance, Lily thought. "And Gilderoy Lockhart mysteriously disappeared, and no one's seen him for a year now."

Good riddance as well, Lily thought again. Lockhart flew away like a coward when Ginny was kidnapped. An article had appeared afterwards, detailing his cowardly behavior in the face of this danger. The sales of his books dramatically decreased afterwards, and apparently some merchants, shop owners and even his editor had engaged into proceedings against him. It seemed that Lockhart was heavily indebted and owed money to many people.

"If someone can stay at this position for more than a year, Remus, it is you," she said to reassure him.

"Oh, I hope I will succeed. The students… They are very late. Quirrell was not very efficient, and Lockhart…"

"He didn't teach them anything. You can say it," Lily completed in front of his hesitation.

"Well… That is a way to present things," Remus conceded. "Still, I must say, there's a student I'm not worried about when it comes to Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Who?"

"Harry." Lily wasn't expecting that answer. Harry loved Remus' classes, of course, and indeed she saw he had very good results, but to her knowledge this was a situation common to almost all students. Remus resumed. "And that he was able to create a Patronus, even if it not perfect… I think you rose a future Auror, Lily."

She was surprised. She didn't expect Remus to say that. "You think so?"

He nodded. He looked very serious. "Really. I know he is still a child, but by the time he will leave Hogwarts, and if he continues like he does, I think this would be a plausible career for him."

Lily nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what to think about the fact that Harry could potentially become an Auror. She was trying to become one, so she couldn't say that she wouldn't be proud to see Harry become one as well, but again, she feared for his safety. She tried to put these thoughts aside. Harry was only thirteen. The time to choose his future career was not there yet.

"Did you attend his last Quidditch match?"

"Yes. He flies just as well as James did. Maybe even better." She nodded and smiled fondly. "I regret that you were not there. You would have loved to see him produce a Patronus, I think."

Indeed, she would have loved to see that.

"Remus… Can I ask you questions about another of your students?"

"Well, that depends on the questions," he said, looking more serious. "I cannot really give you the results to their exams or…"

"No, nothing like that. It's about a girl who plays for Ravenclaw. She's the Seeker for their team, and… I know her father."

"Cho Chang?" Lily nodded. "It was her parents who brought Peter inside?"

"Yes, though I'm quite sure now that they didn't know they were carrying Wormtail. But… About Cho, does she seem alright to you?"

Remus thought about it for a moment. "Well, as far as I can tell, yes. Maybe a little less cheerful than at the beginning of the year. But most of the students are like this now, with exams approaching. And her team lost their first two games. They are out of the race for the Quidditch Cup this year."

"Her parents are still suspended. Both work for the Ministry."

"Ah. Well, as far as I can tell, she seems alright."

"And the other students? She's not being targeted or harassed? I was told that people knew mostly what happened that day and that her parents were involved."

"No, I didn't get this impression., Sadly, yes, the rumors spread. There was no way to keep this information secret. But I think I always see her with a group of friends, at least six people. She seems quite popular. I don't think she suffered from rumors or intimidation. At least, not much."

"Good." Lily was relieved. She didn't want other children to suffer because of Wormtail.

"All in all, I would say things are slowly coming back to normal. The students are all talking about the last Quidditch matches of the season. Even the professors seem obsessed by it. McGonagall and Snape hide it the best they can, but they both obviously pray for their team to win this year."

Lily snorted. "Yes. McGonagall always had a soft spot for James because of his prowess on the pitch. He could break as many rules as he wanted, and she would punish him every time, but he would remain one of her favourite students because of that."

Remus smiled and laughed at the mention of it. It probably brought him good memories as well. "Yes. I recall. Do you remember that Snitch he carried with him everywhere?"

The memory brought both happiness and exasperation to her mind. She rolled her eyes while smiling. "Only too well. He was always playing with it, showing everybody how good he was."

Remus had a sorry expression. "That was James, Lily. And… He was mostly trying to get your attention. And he succeeded… Although not in the way he hoped at the beginning."

"Please Remus, tell me that Harry is not doing the same thing."

"Oh no, don't worry about that. Harry is really not the type of child who boasts in public. And all professors you will question about it will tell you the same thing."

"All except Severus Snape," she noted on a darker tone.

"I'm afraid that… Severus is not really impartial when it comes to Harry," Remus seemed to reluctantly concede. He had always been the one among James' friends to take Snape's defense, or at least to not throw him the stone. "But he's not mistreating Harry, I can assure you."

"Physically or psychologically?"

For a moment, Remus didn't reply. "Lily, I understand why you despise Severus. I mean… I was there when…"

"You were all there," Lily said. "You all heard what he said. And you all know what he did during the war. He fought for Voldemort. He was a Death Eater."

"Yes, for a time. But he also put his life in danger to spy on him."

"That doesn't erase all the wrong he did," Lily stated.

"No, it doesn't. And we don't have to like him, but… We can at least recognize he is not the same person he was when we left Hogwarts. I cannot say that he is a colleague I appreciate, and with everything that happened between him and James in the past, I will never consider him a friend. But I cannot deny that he's helping me a lot right now, with the Wolfsbane potion he prepares for me on a regular basis. I cannot take that away from him."

Lily snorted. "And why is he preparing this potion? Do you believe he would have done it out of goodness if Dumbledore had not ordered him to do so?" She looked straight at Remus. "The reasons behind our actions tell a lot of more about ourselves than the actions themselves."

Remus seemed at a loss. Still, he spoke. "I understand why you don't trust Severus around Harry. But he wouldn't harm him. That I'm sure of."

Lily snorted once more. "If only I could feel as sure as you do."

As you can see, Lily is keeping a close eye on Harry, and she's nowhere close to trusting Snape.

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Next chapter: Cho