Summary: Lily Evans (an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries) has a mission for the Order of the Phoenix -- retrieve an important memory from the Brain Room that may turn the tables in the war against Lord Voldemort. But if she gets caught, the consequences will be very great, both personally and professionally.
She'll...try not to get caught.
Cinderella Angelina's HHWProject, representing Hufflepuff House.
Categories: General Fics Characters: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: Series: None
Chapters: 3
Completed: Yes
Word count: 7032
Read: 7930
Published: 07/31/06
Updated: 08/02/06
1. Chapter 1 by Cinderella Angelina
2. Chapter 2 by Cinderella Angelina
3. Chapter 3 by Cinderella Angelina
Chapter 1 by Cinderella Angelina
Author's Notes:
Thanks to Senior Healer Marie for the "inspiration" to write this.
“Lily!”
Lily Evans blinked herself out of sleep at the sound of her name.
“Lily, where are you?”
The voice was coming from the other room. With a sigh, Lily levered herself out of bed and glanced at the clock before tottering to the kitchen with a yawn. She would’ve been awake in another fifteen minutes anyway.
The handsome head of James Potter was floating in her fireplace. “Good morning, love,” he said with a grin when he caught sight of his bleary-eyed fiancee.
“You idiot, why didn’t you just come in instead of calling for me like a toddler?” she grumbled, flashing him a returning smile so he knew she wasn’t very angry.
“Can’t stay, much as I’d love to,” James replied. “I’m just popping in to inform you that Dumbledore wants to talk to you after work.”
“And you couldn’t have sent me a note?”
“I wanted to see your lovely face before braving the toils and trials of the day.”
“Thank you,” Lily responded, kneeling down and stroking his hair. “Have a good time today, James.”
“You too. Tell me what the old Headmaster wants, would you?”
“If I can.” They both knew some Order business was so private they couldn’t even tell each other, even though they were engaged.
“Love you,” James said quickly before popping out of the fire.
“Love you too,” Lily said wistfully. What did Dumbledore want? Knowing she’d find out soon enough, she decided to take advantage of the extra time she had this morning to eat an extra bagel for breakfast.
Lily’s workday began at precisely 8:02 in the morning, the moment she stepped out of the Apparition zone assigned to her and 10 other people. Lateness was discouraged for the simple reason that if you Apparated more than a minute off from the time you were supposed to, you would likely collide with another employee. Lily arrived right on time, just as always, and shook her head to dispel the unpleasant feeling she got from Apparition. Then she headed down to Level Nine, to the Department of Mysteries, where she worked.
“Good morning, Miss Evans,” Broderick Bode said solemnly as she passed through his workstation on her way to the Potions lab. “How’s that new poison coming?”
“Well, you know I hate making poisons, but it’s coming along really well, thanks for asking. We’re running final tests this week then we’ll start working on antidotes.”
“Good luck,” was the somber reply.
Because Lily was so recently out of Hogwarts, the Department had her circulating throughout some of the more broad studies “ Potion and Charm Development, and Arithmancy research. They had agreed that she had good potential, but for this first year she was supposed to discover her real strengths and then they might put her in a more specific area “ with considerably less applicability, she reminded herself whenever she was so tired of mixing ingredients, trying equations, or deriving Latin-based words she could scream.
“Lily my bonny lass! How are you this fine morning!”
“Owen!” Lily replied cheerfully, accepting his handshake but escaping deftly from his attempt to draw her in for a peck on the cheek. “My fiancé woke me earlier than usual this morning,” she continued pointedly.
“Ah, say no more,” the handsome young man said, winking rogueishly. Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Owen was great to work with when he wasn’t flirting shamelessly with every girl around or teasing Lily about her fiancé “ according to him, she was far too young to settle down before she’d had, as he put it, “more real life experience.”
The goal for the day was to determine if there was a simpler way to make the potion. There were very few new ones these days that a first year at Hogwarts could complete; most these days were NEWT-level or above.
“Though,” Lily mentioned to Owen as they got out their ingredients, “why a first year would want to make this Paralyzing Potion is beyond me.”
“Oh, there’s always pranks to be had, for those that are willing to spend the time and effort,” he replied.
Lily couldn’t disagree with that “ she’d witnessed far too many incidents of spiked punch courtesy of the Marauders to dispute any of that. Not to mention the particularly potent potions Severus Snape used to concoct as revenge....
She sighed. Severus Snape was a delicate topic in her mind. They’d been ... close acquaintances throughout much of Hogwarts, but after she started treating James with civility, they’d somehow grown apart...not to mention he’d called her a most dreadful name at the end of fifth year, and she’d never really gotten over it.
And now that they were out of Hogwarts, she hadn’t seen him at all, only heard rumors and whispers that he was even deeper into the Dark Arts than ever, and might even be in Lord Voldemort’s inner circle. She was saddened by that. He would have done well on Dumbledore’s side.
Why did Dumbledore want to talk to her?
With another sigh, Lily tried to apply herself to the task at hand, but thinking about Severus Snape and Dumbledore had somewhat ruined her concentration and she didn’t get nearly as much done as she should have.
“I think that’s all for today,” Owen said finally. “You all right, Lily? You seemed a little distracted.”
“Oh, I ... sorry,” she said, practically running out of the lab to get to the Apparition point.
Lily’s work day ended promptly at 4:03 pm, depending on how quickly her colleagues left. When it was her turn, she Apparated to Hogsmeade and hurried up the path to Hogwarts.
“Cotton candy!” she gasped when she reached Dumbledore’s office, but the gargoyle remained unmoved. “Don’t tell me he changed the password again! Listen, I’m Lily Evans and I have an appointment.”
The gargoyle hopped aside at the sound of her name and Lily, bemused, made her way up the staircase.
“Welcome, Miss Evans,” Professor Dumbledore said once she came in view of the open door. “How was work?”
“It was all right, Professor,” she replied, “but why did you change your password?”
“Well, I was in the middle of changing it when I remembered you’d be stopping by, so I just charmed the gargoyle to remember your name and let you in. It was rather foolish of me, I admit. Have a seat, Lily.”
Lily sat. “What did you want to talk to me about, Professor?”
“Are you enjoying your work at the Department of Mysteries, Lily?” he asked.
“Yes, it’s quite nice “ I’m still new, though, so I don’t get to do a lot of the really cool stuff yet.”
“What would you like to do?”
“Well, the study of time is somewhat fascinating to me, but I wouldn’t mind following up on some of the new spells and potions we’ve been developing “ measuring the level of magic they require, things like that. But “ ” she sighed “ “not yet. Didn’t you have something you wanted to talk to me about, Professor?”
Dumbledore chuckled. “Quite a one-track mind today, Lily. I have a mission for you in the Department of Mysteries. What do you know about the Brain Room?”
Lily blinked. “The Brain Room? Not very much. Just that they’re...memories that people don’t want anymore, like Pensieves. Or people have donated their entire stock of memories to research. That’s about all I remember “ they took me on a short tour when they first hired me, but I didn’t pay very much attention because I didn’t think it was important.” Her voice faded.
“It’s all right, Lily,” Dumbledore said. “You’re pretty much right “ correct enough, at least, to succeed in what I need you to do. I need you to collect a memory.”
“Whose?”
He .looked at her over his spectacles. “Mine.”
“Yours? But, Professor, why is it there? Don’t you have a Pensieve of your own?”
“Yes, I do. But this memory is very important, so I wanted it kept especially safe, and the Brain Room is notoriously well-protected from vandals.”
Lily blanched. “And you want me to get the memory for you? Why can’t you do it, since it’s yours?”
Dumbledore pursed his lips. “I have reason to believe that there is a spy for Lord Voldemort in the Department of Mysteries. My retrieval of that particular memory would, mysterious as the place surely is, news would get out, and it is of the particular sort that I don’t want ... the wrong ears to hear about.”
“Professor, what is it?”
He leaned down and whispered what she should look for, adding a spell to enhance recognition when she saw it.
“Why that one?” Lily asked, confused. “What is the significance of the memory of you and “ ”
“You might not be aware, Lily, that Professor Slughorn is retiring at long last,” Dumbledore broke in. “This opening, on top of our usual Defense Against the Dark Arts position, has prompted Severus Snape to apply for professorship here at Hogwarts. While I have him here, I thought I might...try to persuade him to...take a different path than he’s been taking of late.”
“Oh!” Lily whispered. “I see! Having a spy for our side...Professor, I would be honored to accept the responsibility. This may be the key, after all, that helps bring down Lord Voldemort forever.”
“We may hope so, Miss Evans,” Dumbledore replied seriously. “Would you care to stay for dinner?”
“Oh, I’m afraid not,” Lily said. “James is taking me out tonight. May I . . .”
“You may tell him of your mission, as long as you’re sure no one is listening,” Dumbledore affirmed, smiling gently. “Have a good evening. Oh, and don’t get caught.”
“I’ll try, Professor,” Lily replied, her stomach tickling with apprehension as the real import of what she was doing began to set in.
Chapter 2 by Cinderella Angelina
Author's Notes:
Lily cases the joint. I put yet another cousin into yet another fiction tale.
“Wait, so “ so Dumbledore wants you to steal something for him? From the Department of Mysteries?”
“James, keep your voice down!” Lily hissed.
“My voice is down!” he hissed back. “Besides, I did put an anti-eavesdropping charm on our table.”
“So did I,” Lily retorted, “but I just want us to be careful.”
The couple were sitting at a secluded table in Dorie’s, a Muggle restaurant that still managed rather good food. Over the appetizer, Lily had filled him in on what Dumbledore had told her to do, but his reaction had not eased her apprehension thus far.
“I still don’t understand why a memory of Dumbledore and Grindelwald will do anything to turn old Snivellus.”
Lily picked up her fork and clattered it restlessly against her plate. “Think about trust.”
“Trust?”
“Yes, James, trust,” she replied patiently. “Something where you will do anything someone says because you believe that it will turn out for the best, because they said so.”
“That’s not all trust is,” he pointed out.
“It’s the sort of trust Dumbledore hopes to cultivate in Severus.”
James snorted. “Fat chance of that.”
“Well, I believe that it can be done!” Lily responded hotly, cutting herself off as the waitress appeared bearing their dinners.
“Is there anything else I can get for you folks?” she said, looking a little puzzled as a result of the charm that had wreaked a little havoc with her hearing.
“No, thank you, we’d just like to be left alone right now,” Lily replied politely.
“All right,” the waitress said, shaking her head as she left as if she had water in it.
“Think about it, Lily. You’re risking an awful lot to do this, just for Snape. Is it worth it?”
“It’s not just for Snape. It’s for Dumbledore, for the Order, for the world!”
James smiled gently at her. “That’s my girl; out to save the world, one theft at a time.”
“Just call me Robin Hood,” Lily responded, rolling her eyes. “The reasons I’m doing this aside, James, do you think I can do it?”
“Yes. Tomorrow try and scope it out, see where and when the best opportunity is. Then we’ll come up with a plan.”
Lily toyed with her beans, mixing them up in her potatoes while she said quietly, “This is scary, James.”
“This from the girl who dangled fearlessly from the top of Gryffindor Tower? This from the girl who met You-Know-Who and escaped unscathed?”
“Shh!” Lily hissed. “That’s a secret!”
“Did we or did we not put anti-eavesdropping charms around our table, darling? The point is: you’re not going out to battle Lord Voldemort. You’re just . . . going to work with a detour. Now stop playing with your food and eat your dinner.”
“I’m just going to work with a detour,” Lily told herself as she made her way down to Level Nine, heart pounding. “It’s just a slight detour. Nothing to worry about.”
“Good morning, Miss Evans.”
“Oh! Mr. Bode! You startled me!”
“Are you all right, Miss Evans?” It was hard to tell if the prospect of her possible unwellness bothered him particularly as his voice was melancholy as ever.
“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” Lily replied distractedly. “Just...thinking.”
“About anything in particular?”
Lily looked sharply at him before she responded. “Well, you know, I’ve been working here for a few months now, and the Potions lab isn’t really my thing. I guess I was just thinking about something that interests me more.”
“What would that be, Miss Evans?”
“Well...” Might as well plunge right in she thought. “The Brain Room?”
“The Brain Room, is it?” Bode exclaimed solemnly. “Why on earth would you want to work there?”
“That’s just the thing!” Lily said in a rush. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in there, and seen what they do with the memories, I’m not sure it’s really the place for me.”
He looked at her thoughtfully. “I could possibly arrange for you to visit the Room sometime today, if you like. I have a friend who works there.”
“Oh, could you?” she gushed. “That would mean so much to me, thank you!”
“Stop by when you’re done working on that poison and we’ll see about another tour.”
“I owe you, Mr. Bode!” Lily called as she hurried to the Potions lab.
“Well, you took your time getting here,” Owen said as she ran into the room. “Fiancé didn’t want to say goodbye?”
“No, Owen, Mr. Bode was talking to me about visiting some of the other places in the Department after work,” Lily snapped, having no patience for his remarks today.
“You’d leave me, my bonny lass?”
Lily didn’t deign to reply, simply took out her cauldron and released the stasis spell. Her concentration on the task at hand wasn’t likely to be much better than yesterday, but she still ought to work as much as she had the mind for.
“What is with you lately, Lily?” Owen said at the end of the day. “I’ve never seen you so out of the loop.”
“I’m really sorry, Owen. I guess, with the wedding getting nearer, and You-Know-Who attacking more Muggles every day, I haven’t been thinking about my work as I should have been.”
“You’re Muggleborn, aren’t you?” Owen remarked, eyes dark with sympathy as he looked at her. “I can see why you’re worried.”
“Yeah,” Lily murmured, looking down. It was true “ she did spend a lot of time worrying about Voldemort. But that wasn’t her problem today. “Listen, I ought to go and see if Mr. Bode managed to get me a tour.”
“See you tomorrow!” Owen said, patting her on the shoulder as she left.
“We’ll see,” Lily murmured to herself as she navigated the rooms toward the place she’d met Bode earlier.
“Hello, Miss Evans,” Bode said sepulchrally when he saw her. “I’d like you to meet my associate, Fredrick Croaker.”
“Call me Fred,” the man said, shaking Lily’s hand. “So I hear you’re interested in our little brains.”
“I’m...considering it,” Lily said, torn between actually liking the man and wanting his good opinion and her nervousness at what she was about to do.
“Come along with me and we’ll see if it catches your interest,” Fred said jovially. “Thanks, Rick. See you!”
“Have fun,” Bode said as if he doubted it.
“Now, the main thing we do in the Brain Room is prepare the memories for archival. You can see here that there’s a specific charm that makes them into the movie-reel like strands that we put into the brains. You do know what a movie reel is, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir, I’m Muggleborn.”
“I am too,” Fred said, grinning at her. Lily smiled weakly back. She liked this man; he seemed like a good person. That made it all the more horrible that she was just doing this to...well, to case the joint, as it were.
“The brains themselves are specially charmed to keep the memories safe and undamaged, and the solution we keep them in also helps.”
“Does anyone ever want the memories back?” Lily asked.
“Yes, but it’s a very delicate process to return them,” Fred replied. “You see, when we insert the memories into the brains, a spell is put upon them where they will attack you if touched.”
“What do they do?” Lily asked, paling.
“Oh, they wrap around you like an octopus or a boa constrictor and won’t be removed even with Diffindo or any other basic spell. If you don’t succeed in removing them, they’ll suffocate you.”
“Oh,” Lily said quietly.
“But don’t worry!” Fred said, noting the paleness of her expression. “That hardly ever happens, and we’re very careful that, if we ever need to remove a memory, the proper precautions are taken.”
“I’m guessing they have to send a request through upstairs,” Lily said. “How long does it usually take to give the people their memory back?”
“It depends. It takes a long time for the paperwork to get down here, but once it comes down to actually extricating the memory, perhaps an hour.”
“An hour?” Lily said breathlessly. “What takes so long?”
“Just the extrication process, it’s delicate as I said.”
Lily repressed a sigh. “Do you think you could show me how it’s done?”
Fred looked at her. “Maybe when we’re done with the tour. There’s so much more I want to show you, and memory extraction doesn’t happen very often. Over here we have brain repairs, for the memory receptacles that have been here for a very long time and are due for replacement or repair. The brain that Sally’s working on right now has been in our possession for 150 years.”
“Wow,” Lily said faintly, very disappointed. “It’s amazing that it’s been kept so long. Whose is it?”
“Oh, just some man’s. Nathaniel Bonham, isn’t that right Sally?”
“He’s a descendant of Mungo Bonham, the founder of St. Mungo’s,” Sally replied, looking up from the scalpel she’d attached to the end of her wand. “But besides that, he was quite a nondescript man.”
“Do you...watch the memories?” Lily asked, interested despite her disappointment.
“Not as a matter of course,” Fred said, glancing down at the deactivated memory reels of Nathaniel Bonham. “Oftentimes they are too depressing and terrible to watch more than once; that is why they removed them in the first place, you know.”
“Of course,” Lily replied. “This is all so fascinating, Fred. Thanks for showing me around.”
“Oh, we’re not done yet. Don’t you want to see how we make the green potion we keep them in?”
Lily chuckled. “No, thank you. I think I’ve had quite enough of potions for a while.”
“That’s right, you’ve been working in Potions Dev, haven’t you? Not your cup of tea?”
“It’s fine,” Lily said, “but I don’t like making poisons.”
Fred laughed. “Soft hearted, are you? That’s a sort of girl that’s less frequent than she should be.”
She looked down for a moment. “Thanks, Fred. Hey, do you think you could show me the memory extraction process?”
“I suppose, since you’ve been a good girl,” Fred said, pretending to pat her on the head.
“How do you know which brain to remove?”
“Just Summon it with the proper name,” he replied. “Of course, you have to be careful not to let the tentacles touch you unless you say the deactivation spell, and “ ” he looked sharply at her “ “why so interested in this? Planning to steal someone’s brain?”
“Haha, um, no,” Lily replied uncomfortably. “I’m just curious about it, that’s all.”
“Uh-huh,” Fred said suspiciously, then grinned. “We’ll get you in here yet. Come over here and watch as I start the process “ we don’t have time to complete it tonight, since it takes a while to fully separate.”
Lily had never paid such close attention to anything in her life.
“And then once you sever it from its neighbors, you stick it in a vial, usually, and that’s what takes the rest of the hour,” Fred said finally, looking at his watch. “We close in just a few minutes. Want to watch everything shut down, while you’re here?”
“Sure!” Lily said, realizing that after they closed was probably the best time for her to complete her task. She watched with eyes wide as cubicles were closed and the giant green tank that held the brain was shut tightly, though she didn’t detect any locking spells.
This may be easier than I thought, she mused, thanking Fred profusely and running to her Apparition point. She was only 47 minutes behind schedule. I need to talk to James and borrow something from him.
She was almost ready.
Chapter 3 by Cinderella Angelina
Author's Notes:
Dedicated to the Twins who Date the Blacks for their snap/blast discussion.
“Lily!”
Lily groaned; she hadn’t slept very well at all. Nightmares that featured (but were not limited to) Dumbledore, Severus, lethal thoughts in the form of tentacles, and an alarming representation of Fred Croaker cast in pearly white brains had disturbed her rest, and she felt far less ready for the day than she had last night, discussing possibilities nestled in James’ arms.
“Lily, get up!”
With a final groan, Lily rolled over and opened her eyes. James was standing there, wand at the ready.
“If you don’t get out of bed this instant, Lily, you’ll find yourself quite wet!”
“James! Please no.”
“Get up. It is time to get ready for the day.” A few drops of water landed on Lily’s coverlet.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, I’m getting up!” Lily snapped. “Do me a favor and make me breakfast while I’m getting dressed, would you, dear?”
James looked slightly hurt at her tone of voice, but only said, “Anything for you, love.”
Lily sighed. She didn’t want to hurt James’ feelings, but she was terribly uptight. If she got caught removing Dumbledore’s memory, she’d get fired. Not only that, she could get arrested. People in general did not mess with the Department of Mysteries’ affairs. And with good reason; she wasn’t quite sure she’d heard the deactivation spell quite right, and it was very possible Fred would come by the next day and see her suffocated body.
“That’s a pleasant thought,” she murmured, opening up her closet. It was surprisingly hard to choose an outfit for the day; she just wanted to look normal, but didn’t know how to achieve that without it looking overdone.
“Are you all right, love?” James asked, holding a steaming tray of food.
“I can’t decide what to wear!” she cried, throwing various dresses onto the bed and narrowly missing him with a particular red one.
“Why don’t you just calm down and eat some breakfast with me?” he said, helpless in matters of fashion. “It doesn’t really matter what you wear, you’ll be wearing the Invisibility Cloak anyway.”
“Not all day,” Lily retorted snidely.
“Well, don’t talk to me about it!” James said abruptly, setting down the tray and stalking out to the kitchen.
“Oh, no. James!” she called, throwing on the first thing she picked up and running after him.
“Eat your breakfast, Lily,” he said in a dull voice as she approached him. He was sitting at the table, his back to her. “You need your strength for today.”
“James, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t treat you like this just because I’m under a lot of stress. You’re doing all you can for me and I really appreciate it.” She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
He sighed. “I love you, too. Now eat your breakfast. We can’t have you fainting today.”
“Though that might not be a bad idea...” Lily said, tussling her fiance’s hair lightly before standing up and Summoning her breakfast to her.
“Do you have my cloak?” James asked as they finished the last of the bagels and hot chocolate.
“Yes, it’s in my pocket,” Lily replied, patting her dress reassuringly.
“Do you have your wand?”
“Of course, James.”
“Do you have my kiss?”
Lily grinned. “I think that one’s still missing.”
“Well, we’d better fix that.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Lily finally pulled away, butterflies in her stomach and fear in her eyes.
“You can do it,” James told her, flipping her hair behind her ear. “We all believe in you.”
“I know,” she said shakily. “That’s part of what’s so scary. If I fail, will I be evicted from the Order?”
“Don’t be silly!” James chuckled. “Now go, my love, and do well.”
Lily whimpered, “I can’t do this alone,” as she popped out of sight.
“Whoa, Miss Evans! Careful, there. Are you all right, Sally?”
“I’m fine, Eric,” said the young woman Lily had narrowly missed Apparating on top of.
“I’m so sorry!” Lily gasped. So far her plan to be inconspicuous was...failing spectacularly.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sally replied, looking twice at Lily. “You’re the young lady that Fred was touring around yesterday, aren’t you?”
“Yes, that’s me,” she said, putting on a brave smile. “It’s a lot more interesting than I remember from the first time I walked through.”
“Well, I hope you join us,” Sally said with a smile, indicating by her stance that she expected Lily to walk down to the Department with her. With a silent sigh, Lily straightened her dress and joined her.
“Your hair is so vibrant,” remarked Sally. “It’s how I recognized you. Is it natural?”
“Yes, it is,” Lily replied, casting about in her mind for something polite to say back, but all her brain was putting out was “This is awkward, this is so awkward, why do I get in these awkward situations...”
After a minute, Sally continued on, “Are you working on any exciting potions in the Dev lab?”
“Just a poison.” Why couldn’t she talk? Lily had always been told that she was easy to talk to and a great conversationalist. This woman seemed nice, and if she did end up working in the Brain Room, she’d have to work with her every day. So why wasn’t she saying anything?”
“Uhh...” she tried to continue. “You see, poisons aren’t really my thing, which is why I’ve been considering brains as a replacement; not that I need any replacement brains, as it were, though perhaps I do, as I’ve been losing mental capacity lately, it seems.” She took a deep breath, knowing her face was bright red. “My recent babble a prime example,” she finished, resisting the urge to put her head in her hand.
Sally laughed. “A little nervous? There’s no reason for that, we’re all friends here as Unspeakables! Open yourself up and let everything out “ except anything at all relating to your work, of course.”
Lily smiled. “That’s right. My poor fiancé is tired of me not being able to say anything about my work.” Except when it relates to the Order, of course, she added silently.
“Oh, you’re engaged? How wonderful!”
This was a conversation topic that Lily had navigated several times before, so it was easy for her to chatter back to Sally about James, his profession, what his family was like, without having to put too much effort into it.
“Good morning, Miss Evans, Miss Cox.”
“Good morning!” replied both girls, smiling at each other before going their separate ways. Once out of sight of Mr. Bode, Lily leaned against a wall and breathed deeply. As traumatizing and terrifying as that was, the worst was, of course, yet to come. But first she had to actually attempt her work.
“Lily, you don’t look fit to pick up a cauldron,” Owen said after one look at her.
“Thanks, Owen, I appreciate the concern,” Lily replied wearily, poking her potion and wondering what she’d done with it the previous day. “Good thing I’m not planning to pick up any cauldrons anytime soon.”
“Yes, good thing,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Want to talk about it?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Lily replied, closing her eyes briefly. They flew open again when she felt hands on her shoulders.
“I can see that you’ve been under a lot of stress lately,” Owen murmured, massaging her gently. “I hate to see it affecting your work.”
“I’m sorry,” Lily said, trying but failing to pull away from the relaxing rhythm of his hands that were now moving down her back and releasing tension there.
“Don’t worry about it. Maybe I should give you the day off.”
“That’s not necessary,” Lily began, thinking that she had to be at the Department all day anyway, she might as well be trying to work, but as soon as she said that, Owen’s hand whipped down to her pocket and took out the Invisbility Cloak. She realized with a gasp that a cornere had been showing.
“What’s this, my bonny lass?” Owen said, flipping the end so the cloak billowed out tauntingly toward her. “An Invisibility Cloak? You know, these are discouraged at the Ministry; I should turn you in.”
“How would that benefit you?” Lily asked, reaching out a hand for it but missing. “It’s not mine, anyway; it’s my fiance’s.”
“So why did you bring it?”
Lily didn’t reply, but she could feel herself starting to blush.
“Ah, now, you see? I really should turn you in!”
“No, Owen, don’t,” Lily pleaded, but he just smirked at her and flung the cloak around his shoulders so only his head was visible.
“I won’t...if you let me borrow this for a while. I can see some good use coming out of this.”
“No, I need it for today!”
“You’re going to do something you’re not supposed to, aren’t you?” Owen said, nodding, bodiless, at her frozen expression. “Well, too bad for you. I don’t want to risk one of our most promising Potioneers doing some silly stunt with an Invisibility Cloak and getting caught. You won’t be seeing this cloak again anytime soon. Give your regrets to your fiancé.”
“Arggh!” Lily cried, drawing out her wand. “Petrificus Totalus!”
Owen became still as a statue, still looking smug but with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Then he fell over.
“This is important,” Lily murmured to him, grabbing the cloak off of him and shaking it as if to rid it of impurities. “Don’t get in my way again.”
And with that, she muttered, “Obliviate,” and released him from the Full-Body Bind.
“I’m so sorry I tripped you!” Lily said immediately, helping him up off the floor. “I’m just so scatterbrained today.”
“It’s all right,” Owen replied vaguely. “Wasn’t I about to give you the day off?”
“Um, yes,” Lily said, deciding on the spot that it was probably best to keep out of Owen’s way in case he suspected something suspicious again. “Thanks for that, Owen, I really appreciate it. I promise I’ll start concentrating on my work.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, still looking slightly bewildered.
Lily escaped.
“So much for not getting caught,” she muttered to herself, making sure the Invisibility Cloak was completely concealed in her pocket before walking casually out of the Department.
“Where are you going, Miss Evans?” Bode said.
“I got the day off,” she said, trying to smile. “I’m not feeling too well.”
“You don’t look very well either. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“If I’m not arrested or dead,” Lily murmured as she took the lift to the Ministry café. It was far too early for lunch, and she wasn’t hungry anyway, so she just sat for a few minutes. Being out of the Department made things difficult, especially now she’d been seen to leave by Bode. Finally she decided to sneak back in using the Invisibility Cloak. Fifteen minutes before closing time should do it....
Lily left the café some time later (she’d finally ordered some lunch but hadn’t been able to eat much of it) and began making her way down to Level Nine for the second time that day. She was surprised at the number of people that were coming up “ there was no chance for her to slip on the cloak without being very conspicuous. Finally she pushed her way into the Department of Mysteries, still visible and feeling a little piqued.
“Miss Evans!”
Great. “Hi, Mr. Bode.”
“Why are you back? I was under the impression you had the day off.”
“Well, um, I got all the way home and realized that I’d left my, um, my purse in the Potions lab so I had to come back and get it!”
“I see,” Bode said, sensing perhaps that there was something that didn’t quite add up.
“Bye!” Lily called, ducking into a side room and slipping on the Invisibility Cloak as soon as she was sure no one was watching. Then she backtracked “ being careful not to run into anyone “ and slid into the Brain Room right as Fred said, “All right, everyone, let’s close up for the day!”
Lily huddled herself in a corner as the cubicles were closed and the tank was sealed. Finally, everybody was out of the room except Fred.
“Guess that’s it, then,” he said to himself, then flicked off the lights and left, leaving Lily in darkness lit only by the pearlescent brains floating in the green tank. Lily let the cloak drop to her shoulders as she stood up.
“Accio Albus Dumbledore’s brain!” she muttered, and a spheroid white shape came hurtling toward her, memory reels unfurling, waiting to grasp her.
“Dormasurne!” Lily gasped, praying that she’d said the right spell. Just before the first tentacle touched her, it fell limp, and the brain fell into her hand. She shuddered a deep sigh.
“I can’t believe I forgot my purse,” Lily heard suddenly, then the door opened and the light flicked on. She barely had time to pull up the Invisibility Cloak over her head before the voices came in view, and she saw Fred and Sally, the latter looking quite abashed.
They were headed on a crash course toward Lily, so she scooted out of the way as quietly as she could, grasping the brain like it was her most prized possession.
“Don’t worry, Sally,” Fred was saying. “I’m just glad you caught me before I left. Do you have it? Now, are you sure you’ve got everything?”
Sally laughed. “Yes, Fred. Thanks so much.”
“All right, let’s go.”
Lily breathed a sigh of relief, but nearly choked on it when Sally turned around, looking around as if she thought something was out of place.
“What’s wrong, Sal?”
“Doesn’t something feel weird to you?”
Lily would have buried her head in her hands, but she was holding something she’d rather not get in her hair. “Just go, just turn around and leave, don’t think about anything, just go home,” she mouthed silently.
“It feels all right to me. All I’m feeling is hungry for some of my wife’s good cooking!”
“Okay,” Sally said reluctantly, turning back toward the door. “Let’s go.”
This time, Lily remained tense until the light was off and the door closed, then she relaxed her hold on the brain, which was looking a little worse for the wear from her tight grip. “Gotta get you out so I can go home,” she told it, poking it gently. “I’m not sure I remember how to find the right memory....”
Luckily, Dumbledore’s recognition spell clued her in to the right memory at once, and she was glad of the excuse not to go through his memories. A wizard as prominent as Dumbledore would have had some pretty scary stuff in his mind that she wasn’t inclined to see.
It was a long hour to wait as the memory was prepared for transportation out of the Brain Room. Lily expected Sally, Fred, or the Minister of Magic even to burst through the door and catch her in the act.
“I’m not stealing,” she tried to tell herself. “I’m working with a slight detour.”
But it was still a nerve-wracking time.
At long last, the memory was ready to be put in the vial, and Lily wrapped up the brain and Banished it back to its tank. Her mission was accomplished. She put the vial in her pocket, pulled up her Invisibility Cloak, and sneaked out of the Brain Room, trying to make as little noise with the door as possible.
She was almost out of the Department of Mysteries when she stopped dead at the sight of Broderick Bode, still engrossed in his work.
“Oh, no.” She’d never come back after ‘finding’ her purse. Could she just leave without it being noted and commented on tomorrow? After a few frozen minutes, she decided she’d better come back from the direction of the Potions lab and think of an excuse as to why she was still there.
“You certainly took your time, Miss Evans,” Bode said solemnly, looking up as Lily hurried toward him from the lab, looking distinctly exasperated.
“Yes, well, Owen said I’d get the day off, but I come back and find that he’s not cleaned up my workstation like he said he would, so I had to stay and do that, and it took a lot longer than I thought it would,” Lily said huffily, praying that the story wouldn’t be checked against Owen himself.
“How unfortunate,” was the reply. “Well, Miss Evans, I hope to see you tomorrow.”
“You certainly will, Mr. Bode!” Lily replied, never so happy to leave the Ministry as she was right then. Fortunately, there was no one waiting at the Apparition point so she made her exit with much less fanfare than she’d arrived.
James was pacing back and forth in her apartment and when he heard the pop that signaled her arrival he gripped her so hard she thought she might bruise.
“Lily! Are you all right? Are you hurt at all? Are you safe?”
“James, I’m fine, you can let go of me.” Lily grimaced as she rubbed her arms where he’d grabbed her. “I thought you’d ask if I had the memory “ that’s certainly more important than my well-being at this time.”
“Don’t be silly,” James said, stroking her hair and pulling her close to him. “You’ll always be the most important to me.”
Lily pulled away and sat down at the table, suddenly very weary. She pulled the vial with the silvery memory out of her pocket and set it on the table, then cradled her head in her arms. “I almost got caught,” she murmured. “So many times. I had to Obliviate and Full-Body Bind Owen, James.”
“Well, I’m sure he deserved it.” James had never liked Owen.
“And I feel so terrible lying to the people in the Brain Room. They think I’m going to come work for them, but it was all a ploy to get this.” She groped around the table until she picked up the vial and waved it vaguely at James. “I don’t know if I can go back to work tomorrow.”
“Take the day off,” James said, plucking the vial from Lily’s wild hand and pocketing it. “Surely you deserve it.”
Lily raised anguished eyes at him. “I took the day off today.”
“Oh. Blast.” He paused for a moment. “I’m calling you in sick anyway. I’m proud of you, love. And Dumbledore will be too. Now move your head off the table and I’ll give you a cup of tea.”
“Thank you, my love,” Lily said faintly, leaving the table completely and heading for her bed. “Wake me up when it’s ready.”
“It’s about ready now, Lily,” James said, but Lily heeded not, thinking only of sleep.
“Tell Dumbledore,” she murmured weakly, “that I hope the memory works. The thought of Severus joining our side was what kept me going through that interminable wait. Tell him...”
And she drifted into peaceful slumber.
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