All thought of Lily left James’ mind as he saw the floor drawing closer. His face hit the stiff carpet and he heard a girl’s voice speaking urgently.
“Are you alright? Oh, I’m so sorry! I should have seen that coming…!” James blinked away the lights flashing behind his eyes and pushed himself onto his knees. He couldn’t see a thing… Where were his glasses?
A large blur from which the frantic apologies seemed to be coming from came into his view and he felt his glasses being pushed onto his nose.
“Alice? What’s going on?” There was now another voice coming from behind him.
“I was picking up my papers and he sort of… tripped over me…” Alice’s voice sounded close to tears.
“It’s okay, really, I’m fine,” James assured her once he had regained his breath. He stood up slowly, and found that his legs felt fine under his weight. “Could you tell me where cubicle H 16 is?” Alice’s expression turned from surprise to amusement.
“That’s…” The voice behind him came yet again, curious and quiet. “That’s my cubicle…” James turned swiftly and his jaw dropped.
Lily Evans stood before him. Her eyes flashed in recognition as she surveyed him. Dark red hair reached barely past her shoulders, shorter than he remembered it to be, but still unmistakable. She was clothed completely in black, hence the morning’s memo.
“James,” she said as a smile spread her lips slightly.
“Hello, Lily,” he greeted after a few moments of staring at her in shock. “Fancy seeing you here,” Her lips twitched.
Of course she would find that amusing. It was obvious that he had, in fact, been looking for her. “I, er, heard about this morning,” He grasped at the subject randomly. She rolled her eyes and he marveled at how the light glinted from her emerald irises when she did so.
“Yes, well, I’ve never really been chummy with Adams. I guess he had it coming,” Something in the tone of her voice made him look closer at her face. Not prone to noticing imperfections in her beauty upon first sight of her, he had overlooked the dark circles arcing under her eyes, and the eyes themselves held the history of little sleep over the past few months. Not knowing quite what to say but eager to keep the conversation going, James asked her about Auror training.
“Oh, it’s going well, I suppose. Nothing physically demanding so far,” she answered, starting to shift from foot to foot. James realized then how awkward it was to be having their first conversation in years in the middle of the hallway with Alice (who had stood there watching the exchange with a knowing expression the whole time) there.
“Well, that’s good,” he commented absentmindedly, having to stop himself from running his fingers through his hair in agitation that he was about to cut their talk short. “I have to go. Talk to you later?” He asked, half holding his breath in awaiting her reply.
She nodded. “We really should be getting back to work,” she added. There was an embarrassed pause in which no one moved.
“Um, I guess we could catch up some other time,” she said it almost as a question. James felt elated. He could hardly keep the grin off his face.
“Yeah,” He said, nodding awkwardly to Alice and walking slowly back toward Group A, if he would ever find it. Not that he’d mind so much… Lily wanted to catch up. Nothing could spoil his mood.
He was back in business!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Well, wasn’t that… special?” Alice commented in a would-be nonchalant voice as they watched James practically skip away in the opposite direction that he had come. Lily could tell her new friend could hardly contain her giggles. “So…?” she prodded, fixing her wide eyes on Lily with raised eyebrows.
“Oh,” Lily replied softly. The stunned, numb feeling was slowly receding. So Potter worked here, too? She would have to ponder that later. She tried to push it to the back of her mind. “That was just an old friend,” she added. The words sounded false and stiff. He and she had gotten together mid-way through seventh year, but she had forced herself out of it upon the death of her parents.
Alice didn’t press the matter, but gave Lily a funny smile and picked up her paper, eyebrows still raised disbelievingly.
Apart from the morning’s occurrences, Lily’s day ran smoothly as always. She got home at around ten o’clock and prioritized the rest of her night.
Unable to thwart the call of food, Lily had an “Instant Lunch” (a handy muggle invention that made nice, noodle soup) then fell into her bed, not feeling particularly tired. Tonight would be dedicated to thought.
James Potter. James. Back in her life out of nowhere. Why was he doing this? Frustration gripped her. It would be Hogwarts all over again. The endless pursuit of an unrequited love. But it had never been unrequited. Quite the contrary, Lily could distinctly recall spending the hours she didn’t need for homework attempting to sketch his face. Needless to say she had never been quite able to recapture the elegant curve of his face-
Lily shook herself.
She wasn’t sure how to feel about this. Perhaps befriending Alice had been a rash decision. Involving herself with James again would definitely be one. Lily was many things. Social wasn’t one of them. Perhaps she would be if wasn’t do paranoid that everyone she spent more than a few seconds was doomed to a terrible death.
James was important so her (Lily had the sudden yearning for a roll of parchment and quill for drawing), and though it was hard to explain precisely how her becoming close to him would endanger his wonderful self (perhaps it was just a feeling), but either way, she was at an impasse.
Perhaps he wasn’t even interested in her anymore. The thought made her ache with sorrow, and yet she hoped it was true. It was quite unlikely. James had endured years of her “loathing” and rejection and never given up. Would he go through it all again? Was the first time remotely worth his efforts?
Lily severely doubted that he would still want her after what she had done. He just wanted to catch up.
A small nagging voice in her head was telling her otherwise. Was it so hard to believe that Alice and James both cared about her and actually liked her? Alice and James, two people that she loved-
Lily was still.
Alice and James… James and Alice… Love…
Well, there was her answer. She’d kill two birds with one stone and feel no more guilt about the whole thing. At least, that’s what she thought.
Lily was already brushing her teeth when the Waker started to vibrate and buzz the next morning. She dismissed it and started to dress herself with the silky while clothes that Elliot had given her the previous morning. Amazing… they fit perfectly. What in the world was Elliot doing with women’s clothing? Lily shook her head, amused.
Breakfast consisted of buttered toast and milk. Feeling the best she had in three years, Lily apperated to the Ministry. Unfortunately, she did not run into Adams, and therefore could not show off her new garb.
She reached her desk to find it empty and clear, as she had left it last night, save for a piece of rather grubby looking parchment. Lily eyed it critically- nope, it definitely wasn’t hers.
Suddenly, words appeared, letter by letter, as if someone invisible sat at her desk, writing notes.
Lily gingerly scooped the parchment into her hand, squinting at the messy lettering.
“Morning, Lily. Remember this old trick?” Even as she read it under her breath, more words appeared below the first set.
“This is how Sirius and I managed to get an “O” each on the History of Magic NEWT. How could Binns expect us to remember all that rubbish?” So it was James on the other end, awaiting her reply. She fought a smile, knowing she couldn’t be too nice to him.
“Utterly intriguing, James,” she wrote neatly to the side of his first note. She had to grin as there was a long pause in which, she guessed, he was trying to figure out if she was being sarcastic or not.
“How did you pass it, then?” came the words. She sighed.
“James, I really have a lot of wok to do-” here she glanced guiltily at her empty desk, “- so I’ll have to talk to you later,” This time there was no pause.
“Alright. Don’t throw this paper away though. Clearu-” Before she had even finished reading his spell, the entire parchment had gone blank. She placed it to the side and sat tranquil, wishing she hadn’t lied about being busy. There was nothing to do. Death Eaters always evaded capture. Rarely did the Ministry catch a lead at all.
Perhaps, though, Lily could find something on Garson the she hadn’t already memorized. Garson was the case she was currently assigned to. She turned to the wall on her right and studied the good-looking, cheerful face that smiled down on her. So far, all Lily knew for sure about him was that he was a Scottish pureblood, 38 years old, and responsible for the deaths of Ernie and George Carton, Jimmy Creevy, Andrew Smith, and a muggle boy named Kevin Wimberley.
Lily tapped her chin with a finger, staring into the smiling, good-natured eyes. She found it disconcerting to want to like him, while knowing the truth behind his eyes.
Why all boys? Every one of them had been between the ages of four and fifteen. She couldn’t see a distinct pattern in their ages, nor a specific reason why they were all male. Was that just his unexplained preference?
Lily folded the corner of the paper idly. Perhaps Garson had been ordered to kill only boys…
Lord Voldemort wants boys killed, Lily thought, scrawling a quick memo to Alice on a piece of her notes. The memo flapped away and Lily awaited its return impatiently.
Several moments later, the memo, now bearing a much heavier load, landed unceremoniously down on her desk after narrowly avoiding a few passing staff. Inside, she found whole folder of Alice’s research and a note:
“Lily- Alright, it’s all here, I think! Thank you, I’m so glad to get all of this away from me. Let me know if you find anything! “Alice,”
Lily dove into the folder with anticipation and found photos of face completely different from Garson’s. The man had a thin white face, cold, grey eyes, and a knowing sneer on his lips, as if he had her right where he wanted her. Lily wanted to shudder, but wouldn’t give Lucious Malfoy that satisfaction.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It had been two hours since Lily had ‘hung up’ on him, and James steadily turning mad from the lack of activity in his small cubicle. He really should be working, but his desk was clear- no new updates or assignments.
Finally a thought struck him and he cursed himself for not seeing it before. If Lily was so busy, maybe he could help her finish her work quicker. He found a quill and held it poised over the tattered parchment until his guts caught up with him and he began to write.
“Lily- I know you’re busy but I think I might be able to help. What are you doing?” he waited anxiously for thirty-nine (he had counted) seconds before a reply appeared.
“I don’t think so James, this is REALLY important,”
He stared dumbly at the parchment.
“All the more reason for me to help!” he wrote quickly.
“Sorry- can’t talk. I’m throwing this away, James, I need to concentrate,”
Even as he began a hurried response, the faint glow illuminating the parchment faded. Well, so much for that…
James crinkled the parchment and closed his eyes, imagining Lily sitting in cubical H 16. What on earth was she up to that was so important? Why hadn’t she accepted his help? A thought came to him and he sighed. Maybe she thought he was going to ask her out again.
Not wanting to ponder the matter any longer, he opened his eyes, noticing a new memo on his desk.
“Work, work,” he muttered, reaching for it and reading the words upon it.
James jumped out of his seat, eyes glued to the scrap of paper in his hand. A loud excited chattering broke out at that instant and people exited their cubicles, flooding the halls.
“A lead.”
Good is an Illusion by AFootyFan
Chapter Notes: Something of a filler chapter, but the next, real good one is right behibd. Kudos to the longest, nicest reviewer!