Where Lily is kind of facing a mirror.

LILY XLII

While everyone was surprised to learn about the presence of another werewolf at St Mungo's, Lily Evans Potter was at the fourth floor, hesitating to walk into the Janus Thickey Ward. How long was it since she last came here?

She came for the first time many years ago, back when Harry was still a baby. She had brought him with her, a grave mistake. She came back a few days later, alone this time. And a few more times during the two years that followed, often accompanied by other people from the Order. But as Harry grew, she was more careful to avoid any situation where he could be exposed to magic. So she stopped visiting. She came back after Harry left for Hogwarts for the first time. Seeing their son with his grandmother at King's Cross had made her realize for how long she had not visited them. Then she went to see them again after Voldemort returned. Each time had been difficult, and Lily doubted it would be any different today.

A Healer came out of the ward.

"Can I do something for you?" she kindly asked.

Lily noticed the woman was looking at her quizzically. Maybe she had spotted Lily standing there, doing nothing for a while. She must have looked strange.

"I'm…" she began.

Lily hesitated. And then, she decided she had to do it. She had left Arthur alone with a roaring Molly and only Remus, Alastor and Mundungus Fletcher to keep her in check. It had to be for something.

"I'm here to visit Frank and Alice Longbottom."

Any suspicion in the Healer left immediately. "How kind. They do not receive a lot of visit. Mrs Longbottom, Frank's mother, visits quite often, truth be told, and she brings their son with her as often as she can, but aside from them, very few people come to visit. This way. I'm sure they will be happy to see another face."

Lily followed the Healer into the ward. Aside from Frank and Alice, whose curtains were drawn, hiding them, two other patients were present in the room. One of them, a woman whose face was covered in furs, was already there when Lily last came. The other occupant was new. But Lily recognized him after a moment.

"Bode?"

The Healer stopped with Lily in front of the bed where the lone man was lying, staring at the ceiling while muttering to himself.

"You know him too?" the Healer asked enthusiastically.

"Not much. He was a colleague. He didn't speak much."

An Unspeakable, Broderick Bode, as his position indicated, was not very talkative. Still, Lily had come across him a few times during her short period at the Ministry of Magic.

"Poor man. He's not talking very much either now. But his state is slowly improving. We're optimistic," the Healer said.

Lily didn't know he was there. The Order had been keeping an eye on him ever since he was sent out to St Mungo's. They suspected he was a victim of the Imperius Curse much like Sturgis, although they couldn't be sure. Lily would have to inform Dumbledore that she saw Bode today, though he was surely aware of the man's latest state.

"You may talk to him, if you want. Believe me, patients can hear us, even when they look like they don't," the Healer said.

"No. I barely know him, anyway," Lily replied. "Alice and Frank?"

"Oh, this way." She hurried towards the drawn curtains. "The whole family should be pleased to see you. Like I said, they don't receive much visit from other people."

Because of the short moment of confusion, Lily couldn't stop the Healer before she removed the curtains.

"Mrs Longbottom," the Healer declared, "your son and daughter-in-law have some visit."

Lily found herself facing Augusta and Neville Longbottom sitting near a bed, both looking at her in surprise. The initial surprise on their faces was quickly replaced, by a delighted expression for Augusta, but total fear for the young Neville, as Lily felt she chose the worst moment to come in this ward.

"Lily! What a pleasant surprise!" the old witch said. "Merry Christmas!"

"Oh… Merry Christmas, Augusta," Lily replied, feeling totally out of place. "I apologize. I didn't realize you were visiting. I'll leave you and come back later."

"Nonsense! My son and his wife rarely receive visitors. It's mostly the two of us. Stay. They will be happy to have some more people to talk to."

Not finding any way to extricate herself from this situation, Lily stayed, thanking Augusta with a nod. She then turned to her grandson.

"Hi, Neville," she kindly said. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," the boy replied, all sullen.

"Neville, you probably recognize her, this is…" his grandmother started, but then she seemed to realize something. "Of course, I'm stupid. You know her. She's your professor now. By the way, Lily, thank you for teaching Neville. He only has good things to say about you."

"Really? Thank you," Lily replied for both Augusta and Neville. Considering the negative evaluations Dolores gave her all the time, despite knowing they were worth nothing, it was good when she heard her students appreciated her.

"Neville is a good boy," Augusta said, kindly casting a gaze at her grandson. Then she turned her eyes towards the occupant of the bed. "Though he doesn't have his father's talent."

Lily looked at the man lying in the bed. His eyes were half-closed. Frank Longbottom had always been someone with an intense stare, a prominent forehead and curly short hair. Today, he barely seemed conscious of his surroundings. His face was shrunk by wrinkles and his hair had almost entirely disappeared, only a few strands of white in the shape of a crown remaining on the top of his head, loosely falling around in a disheveled way. If Lily had to describe him today, the first words coming to her minds were empty shell. It broke her heart seeing her once vivid, stalwart friend in this state, the result of days of torture at the hand of Bartemius Crouch Junior, Bellatrix, Rabastanand Rodolphus Lestrange. Thinking that one of his tormentors was walking free as they spoke filled her with rage. She couldn't imagine how his son Neville was feeling right now.

"I wish he always had good teachers like you. The two idiots he had for his first two years didn't help him an iota," Augusta went on, still talking about her son.

"Neville is a very good student," Lily told Augusta. "You can be proud of your son."

She said it aloud so Neville would hear her. The young boy was talented, but he lacked self-assurance. If possible, Lily would encourage her students. As a result, Frank's son reddened to the ears.

"Oh, I am proud," the old, distinguished woman said. "I only wish he was proud of himself as well. And that he was proud of his parents too."

Neville looked down. Lily knew that Augusta was severe and demanding with her grandson. The old woman had been like this with her son as well. But the woman was a good person nonetheless, and maybe the best grandmother someone could ask for, even if her grandchildren could be afraid of her sometimes.

Lily felt a hand on her right shoulder. She jumped away and turned to look behind her. She came face to face with Alice, whose once round and friendly, happy face similar to her son had been replaced by a worn-out expression with dead white hair framing it.

Alice's expression was empty, and yet she kept staring at Lily. Lily didn't dare look away from her big, enlarged, blank eyes. The woman who was so lively, who could laugh at any joke, even if it was poor, was an empty shell as well now.

"This is Professor Evans, Mom," the timid voice of Neville said behind. "She teaches me Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Come on, Neville," his grandmother said. "Lily and your mother have known each other for years. They have even been pregnant together, remember." Augusta turned back her attention to her daughter-in-law, speaking very kindly. "You must be very happy to see Lily again, Alice."

If Alice understood or even heard what her mother-in-law just told her, she showed no sign of it. She kept looking blankly at Lily.

Lily stared at her as well. She and Alice shared so much. They had both fought in the Order of the Phoenix against Voldemort, even facing him several times and surviving these encounters. They were both powerful and respected witches, married to powerful wizards coming from old and highly esteemed families. Their sons were born only a day apart. And yet, they couldn't look more different today, nor were their destinies anything similar. Lily was still young, in the prime of her age, healthy, and… she had to acknowledge it herself, she was still beautiful. She was also famous, to her regret, a witch with a good career, and respected for the most part. As for Alice, she looked way older than she actually was. She was confined day and a night to a secluded space in a hospital, dependent on other people for her most basic needs, and people remembered what had happened to her more than they actually remembered her. For most of the magical world, especially now that they were busy denying Voldemort's return, Alice was a long forgotten tragedy, something they didn't want to face as a reminder to what was approaching again. She was a person whose existence people didn't want to remember. She was not only tortured until she became mad. She was relegated in a dark corner by the rest of the wizarding community, with only her son and her mother-in-law to visit her once in a while.

"You have a lot to tell her, obviously," Augusta told her daughter-in-law the most seriously and kindly in the world.

Lily hoped so. There was a lot she would like to tell Alice as well. Only, she couldn't tell her while her son and his grandmother were around.

"You know, Mom," Neville said, "she is the best professor we've ever had in Defence Against the Dark Arts."

Lily was surprised by the words he chose and turned to look at him. Neville reddened all of a sudden.

"Neville! Don't try to gain points with your professor!" his grandmother berated him.

"I'm not," he murmured. Lily felt sorry. Neville didn't seem like the kind of student who would try to charm his teachers.

"I only try to teach them how to defend themselves the best I can," Lily explained to his grandmother.

"From the looks of it, you do it pretty well," Augusta commented. "The alternative would have surprised me. Your talents are best used teaching children like my grandson than serving this fool of Fudge."

Lily cast a glance. The Healer was too busy. She didn't seem to have heard what she just said.

"This is what I think, and I say it loud," Augusta declared, loud and clear. "Cornelius Fudge is a sycophant, an incompetent, and an imbecile. What would you expect from someone who gave himself an Order of Merlin, First Class when he became Minister?"

The Healer looked to have heard this time, but she didn't react and went on with her business.

"And it doesn't matter what he says or what he forces his friends at the Daily Prophet to write. Lord Voldemort is back!"

This time, reactions were way more visible. The woman with the furry face roared, Bode was agitated in his sleep, and the Healer stopped what she was doing and stared, offended, at Augusta. Frank's mother immediately looked regretful for her behavior, but not because of the Healer's reaction. Frank had begun to tremble, and Alice was cowering on the floor, against her bed. Even Neville was livid. His parents could be mad, they still recognized the name of the man responsible for their state.

"Frank, Alice… I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said this. I apologize. Come, Alice. Don't stay on the floor. You'll get cold," Augusta said even more kindly than before.

In the meantime, the Healer resumed working, obviously doing her best to ignore all of them.

That was the thing. People refused to face the truth. No one dared to question Fudge's version, out of fear of suffering his wrath. They didn't want to consider the possibility of Voldemort returning. They didn't even want to talk about it. Fudge had effectively created an atmosphere where no one dared to talk, even if they would have liked to. He had done exactly what Voldemort wanted. He helped him to remain in the shadows. By his silence, Fudge had made himself the greatest ally and conspirator in Voldemort's plans, without even realizing it.

And he also became an accomplice in making the wizarding community ignore and turn their back on two people who suffered from Voldemort more than anyone else. For their fates had been even worse than death.

A very short chapter, but a significant one.

Please review.

Next chapter: Severus