“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.
Don't Get Caught by Cinderella Angelina
Chapter Notes: Thanks to Senior Healer Marie for the "inspiration" to write this.