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Chapter 6: Lily's Pensieve
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Lily motioned with her finger for Isabelle to follow her to the kitchen. It was dark in the room, and Lily didn't turn on any lights. She felt her way around to the kitchen table, her seventeen-year-old self following behind her, trying not to run into counter corners and stools. They both sat down at the table and waited till everyone had gone upstairs. Once they heard doors shut, Lily waved her hand and the lights came on. She folded her hands in front of her on the table and gave herself a stern look.
"What are you three doing here? Didn't you learn from the last time you messed with time that it's a bad idea?"
"I know. But they talked me into it."
"Who did?"
"Blake and Julia." Lily sighed.
"Be your own woman, Lily. Don't always give in. If you do, you'll end up like I am in the future."
"What do you mean?" Lily shook her head.
"Never mind. But so this would explain why Adriana comes running to Evan every time she sees him and calls him daddy. Because he is her father, only nineteen years younger."
"When she first did that, I swear my heart stopped. I swear to God I thought Dad was going to recognize us."
"Well, you had us all fooled. I only found out about your identity because I overheard Blake and Julia talking."
"Door wide open and everything, right?" Lily nodded, Isabelle sighed and the carelessness of her brother and friend.
"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Lily shook her head.
"No, I won't, but you'd better get that potion made and get back home as soon as possible before someone does find out who you are."
"I know."
"Don't let Mum know, you know she'll blow your cover." Isabelle nodded, and was about to say something, but was cut off by the front door opening and closing, and the sounds of someone stumbling around the hallway. Lily got up and went to take care of the person, for she knew exactly who it was.
"Stay here."
Lily turned on the hallway light to find her husband sitting on the floor. He grinned and said, slurring words slightly, "Hey there, Lils! How's it goin'?"
"You've been gone for two days and the only thing you can say is `how's it goin'?"
"Yeah. About that…"
"You know, Will…I don't wanna hear it this time. You should just stay with your whore that you spend so much time with."
"What whore? Not whoring nobody." He hiccupped.
"The woman you're sleeping with, who's pregnant with your child. What is it, I can't have any more kids so you have to find someone who can?" Will sat back and almost fell over but caught himself before he did.
"I never…hic…said that."
"You don't have to say it, your actions speak louder than your words ever could." Will sobered up enough to stand up. He stood a few feet from his wife, trying to look intimidating, but his swaying gave him away.
"I never said anything of the sort, Lils. And I'm sorry, but living in a house full of women can drive a man crazy every once in a while, and he needs to get out every once in a while."
"That's a lame excuse. So then your solution is to go meet some slut at a bar and get an affair going?"
"Where the hell are you getting this crap about me having an affair?"
"Caleb told me!"
Will muttered under his breath, "That bastard." Lily took a deep breath and Will said, "But see, if I had a son or something, then I wouldn't have to leave every night."
"Well, I'm sorry. You didn't have to push me down the stairs when I was pregnant!"
"Well, if you wouldn't provoke me like you do, then it wouldn't have happened!"
"Don't give me that. It's your own damn fault you don't have sons! Good God, is that what all this is about? You left me because we have daughters and not sons? That is the most pathetic reason I've ever heard!"
"Not so much that we have daughters, that we have daughters who are bitches just like their mother." Lily slapped Will across the face. He stumbled and took a step back. Lily's bright green eyes flashed dangerously when she pointed to the door.
"Get out."
"Lils…"
"GET OUT!! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!!"
"It's not your house, I paid for it!"
"But you only use it for a check-in place. You check in and leave again. We live here, so it is my house!! Now GET OUT!!" Will glared at Lily and turned and walked out the door. Lily sat down on the bottom stair and put her head in her hands. Isabelle came from the kitchen; eyes slightly red from tears. She sat next to her future self and stared at the door where her future husband had just exited.
"Can I ask you something? Something I've been wondering ever since I got here. Actually two things."
"What?"
"What's up with you and Will? What happened? And what happened with Blake? Why aren't he and Julia still together?" Isabelle tearfully said. Lily sighed sadly and stood up and went to the library. She beckoned for Isabelle to follow her and Lily opened a cabinet door and pulled out a silver bowl with a silvery liquid substance in it.
"They're all in here. Everything, all the answers to your questions."
"Can I look?"
"Go ahead. They'll be your memories soon." Both women stuck their hands in the liquid and where sucked into the bowl and into Lily's memories.
"Want to know what your wedding'll look like?"
"Yeah." The first memory was the day Lily got married. Her bridesmaids walked down the aisle with the groomsmen, and Isabelle spotted her brother as a groomsman, walking one of her friends from school up the aisle. Next Julia started walking down the aisle, in a light green dress, grinning at her boyfriend once he was facing the congregation. When she had reached the front, the bride, escorted by her father, started walking up the aisle. Lily had a huge smile plastered to her face, and she wouldn't have been able to frown to save her life. Will beamed with pride as he watched his bride come closer to him. When they had reached the front, Harry gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek and joined his wife, who had tears rolling down her cheeks. Harry handed her a tissue, and Hermione wiped her eyes.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join William Lee Finnigan and Lily Anne Potter in holy matrimony. If anyone has any reason why these two should not be joined today, speak now or forever hold your peace." No one spoke.
"Alright, do you, Lily, take William to be your lawful wedded husband to love, honor and cherish, in sickness and health, for better or worse till death do you part?"
"I do."
"And do you, William, take Lily to be your lawful wedded wife to love, honor, and cherish in sickness and health, for better or worse, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"The rings please." The rings were placed on the fingers and the pastor said,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. William Lee Finnigan." Everyone stood and applauded. The memory was changing to another wedding, Julia and Blake's. The ceremony had already started and the pastor said, "…We are gathered her to join Blake James Potter and Julia Hope Weasley in holy matrimony. If there is any reason why these two should not be married today, please speak now or forever hold you peace." No one spoke.
"Do you, Julia, take Blake to be your lawful wedded husband to love, honor and cherish, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do."
"Blake, do you take Julia to be your lawful wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do." The rings were exchanged and the pastor said,
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Blake James Potter." The newly married couple kissed and the memory started to change.
"Does Julia still have Blake's name? Even though they're divorced?" Lily nodded.
"Yeah. But they aren't divorced yet, Blake keeps sending the papers back. Though even after the divorce is final, Julia says that she wants to keep his name because she's proud to be called a Potter and to be a Weasley. When Blake and Julia first got married, she debated about being Julia Weasley-Potter, but then decided on just Potter." The next memory was of the night Julia and Blake's first son, James, was born. Lily was sitting with her parents, brother and his in-laws at the hospital, waiting for the first news of the baby. Blake was pacing back and forth, occasionally running a hand through his hair nervously. The fourth time he did that, Harry laughed. Blake stopped pacing and glared at his dad for laughing at him.
"Blake, calm down, it'll be alright. She'll be fine."
"Why did I let you all talk me out of being in there with her?"
"Because we know you, Blake. And we've been there, it's not the best thing for a guy to go through," Ron said.
Lily leaned her head back against the wall and said drowsily, "The birth is easy compared to the seventeen years of stress you get to put up with."
"You aren't worried when you have your baby? Or babies," Blake said, frustrated with everyone's calmness about the situation. Lily shook her head.
"No. It's all worth it in the end." Blake started pacing again.
"Believe me, Blake," Ron said. "We've been there, you can't help her by making it easier, and you can't help but think it's all your fault that she's in this pain."
"It takes two people to get pregnant, Ron," Luna said. "It's not just the guy's fault." Ron snorted and laughed.
"That's not what I heard when you had the kids. I remember a lot of, `I hate you's' and `it's all your fault' while you were pregnant or giving birth."
Hermione laughed softly and said in the same sleepy tone of voice as her daughter, "It's a whole caught up in the moment thing. You try pushing a seven pound child out of your body having the only person you can see be the one that if it weren't for him you wouldn't be in this pain. So you just naturally blame your husband."
A nurse came down the hallway, and said, "Mr. Potter?" Blake stopped pacing and looked at the nurse. She smiled warmly and said, "Your wife wants to see you." Blake grinned and followed the nurse. Ten minutes later, everyone else came to see the new baby. When Julia held the baby, all you could see was black hair. Lily laughed at the sight of that messy black mop on her nephew's head.
"Well, you can tell that's the child of a Potter." Julia smiled.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet, James Arthur Potter." Ron grinned.
"Your Grandpa'll love it that you used his name."
"And if Harry's Dad was still alive I'm sure he'd love it too," Hermione said, wrapping an arm around her husband's waist. James was handed around to everyone to be held, and when Hermione held him, she said to her husband and two friends, "Is it just me or are we getting old? We're grandparents now."
"It's not just you, `Mione, we are getting old."
"You know, I remember a day like this, thirty-six years ago. We were what, nineteen? The day Lily and Blake were born, God, it doesn't seem like that long ago, and now they're having children." Harry put an arm around his wife and kissed her temple. Hermione passed her grandson onto her daughter, who held him out so she could see him. She smiled tearfully.
"Hey there, James. I'm your Aunt Lily. Remember this, I'll be your coolest aunt."
"You're his only aunt," Julia laughed and said.
"Not necessary, unless your brothers get married. But anyways, I'll always be there when you need to run away or do whatever."
"Don't encourage running away, Lils."
"Every kid wants to run away some time in his or her life. I was glad for Floo powder and Ron and Luna's house when I was a kid." Lily looked down at her nephew again and smiled. "Gosh, Blake, he looks just like you."
"He'll be a handsome one, that's for sure," Julia said. The memory changed and memories of Lily's daughters being born, and when her other nephews and niece were born were shown. The next memory was the start of the bad ones, the first one being the fight between Blake and his father, the day he quit being an Auror. Lily was standing outside a large house, waiting for the residents to open the door for her. The door finally opened and a black haired boy of sixteen was on the other side. When he saw his aunt, James grinned.
"Hey Aunt Lils."
"Hey there, James, is your mum home?"
"Yep. C'mon in." He led Lily through the house to the living room where Julia was helping her youngest son read. She looked up when she saw her sister-in-law and Michael ran to his aunt and hugged her. Lily came and sat next to her brother's wife and said, "Hey."
"Hey yourself, what's up?"
"Nothing much, just came for a visit."
"How come you didn't bring the girls?"
"They're at their great-grandmother's house. And Will is there with them, so they'll back in a week. He hasn't seen his grandmother in so long, and Bree and Beth wanted to go along." Lily was about to say something, but she heard the `pop' of someone apparating and saw her brother standing in the hallway. He called for his wife, and Julia answered back,
"I'm in here!" Blake came into the living room and said the hellos and everything to his two sons, and seeing his sister, said, "Oh, hey, Lils. What are you doing here?"
"Decided to come visit my brother and his family, as mine is in Ireland right now, and it's kind of lonely in the house."
"Ah, I see."
"So how was your day?" Julia said to her husband.
"Best day of my life in a long time."
"Why's that?"
"I quit." Julia and Lily's jaws dropped at the same time.
"You what?"
"I quit."
"Why?"
"Because I'm sick of the job. I'm sick of spells being constantly shot at me, I'm tired of leaving my family to go on long missions, I'm sick of it all."
"Have you told Dad this yet?" Lily said.
Blake paused before he answered shortly, "No."
"Well, prepare to get an earful about it then. I thought you like being an Auror."
"I used to, but…I'm just tired of it. I mean, what's the point of keeping a job you're not happy with?"
"I'm not sure it's quite that simple, Blake, what are you going to do now?"
"I don't know yet."
"It's one thing to quit when you're not happy as long as you have something else in mind, but quitting for the hell of it isn't the best way to go about it." She stepped into the hallway and all of a sudden there were two `pop's of two people apparating and Lily saw her parents standing in front of her. Lily stopped and turned back to the living room. She sat next to her sister-in-law again and said to her brother, "Well, now's your big chance to tell Mum and Dad about it."
"Why?"
"Because they're standing right behind you." Blake turned around and faced his parents.
"Mum. Dad. How are you?"
"We heard some interesting news going around the Ministry today, Blake." Blake nodded.
"Can you guess what it was about?"
"Me quitting?"
"Exactly. Why'd you quit the Auror business?"
"I'm tired of it."
"You're tired of helping protect your family?"
"There haven't been any reports of Death Eaters in years, Dad."
"So?"
"Dad, I'm not like you and Mum, I'm not Auror material."
"What are you going to do then?"
"I don't know yet, but I'll figure something out. Maybe I'll teach somewhere."
"Your family can't survive on you just saying you're going to figure something out and a maybe you'll find a teaching job," Hermione said. "You should've thought of this before you quit." Blake sighed and Lily gave him a look that said, `Told you so.'
"It doesn't make that much difference whether I'm part of the Aurors or not. I'm not a big asset to the cause. And I'm tired of people assuming that since I'm the only son of the great Harry Potter I'll be this great wizard and will follow in my father's footsteps."
"Not everyone is expecting that, Blake."
"Yeah they do."
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but whether you like it or not, you are my son, and nothing is ever going to change that."
"I know that, but I wish people wouldn't assume that I'll be this great man just because of who my father is."
"So that's why you're quitting? Because you're my son?"
"Part of it."
"That's a lame excuse, Blake," Lily said. Blake turned and pointed to his sister.
"You stay the hell out of this, it's none of your concern."
"Blake, there's no need to snap at Lily," Hermione said. Blake turned to his mother.
"Well she's nosy as hell. She's just like you." Lily and Julia's jaws dropped slightly. Hermione didn't say anything, but Julia said, suddenly realizing her children were still in the room said, "Boys, will you go upstairs please?"
"Why?"
"Just do it, James, don't ask questions now. Go on." The boys reluctantly left the room and the adults heard them go up the stairs and doors slam shut.
"You know Dad, even if there were Death Eater attacks still, they would go for you first before they go for me and my family. You were the one that defeated Voldemort, not me."
"Still though. They'll try and kill every Potter so that the bloodline is broken and the name ceases to exist. That's why Voldemort tried to kill my father and me all those years ago." Blake sighed and glared at his father.
"No matter what you say, Dad, I'm not going back."
"You're a shitty father then. Who worries about his own life before the lives of his family." Blake's glare intensified.
"You know what? I hope the Death Eaters do come for you. And when they do, I hope they kill you." All the women in the room silently gasped. Harry was trying to keep calm, he was taking deep breaths, and it was the only thing that was heard in the silent room. Before anyone else could say anything, Blake left the room. Lily got up and followed him. He went outside onto the deck and leaned against the garden wall. Lily came outside and slammed the door. Blake turned slightly to see who it was, then turned his back to his sister.
"You dumb shit."
"Didn't you're mother ever teach you not to swear?" Lily didn't answer, just smacked him upside the head and Blake backed away and Lily kept hitting him saying, "What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Will you stop frickin' hitting me!"
"No, because you're an idiot, and you just told our Dad that you hope he dies!" She hit him again and Blake slapped her. Lily stopped hitting her brother and slapped him back instead. They both glared at each other, their green eyes burning with intensity.
"Stop being Daddy's little girl for a minute and think about what you're doing, and why I said what I said."
"Because you're a cruel person!"
"No, because he called me a shitty father!"
"So you said you hope he dies? It's not the same thing Blake! And you are a shitty father!"
"And why's that? What makes me so different from you in parenting?"
"At least I have the opportunity for a job still, I didn't quit mine just because I'm offspring of Harry Potter!"
"That's not the whole reason why I quit my job."
"Oh yes, it's because you're a selfish coward who cares more about himself rather than his children and wife!"
"You bitch."
"It's the truth. Call me whatever you want, but I'm not the bad person here. It's you. You know I'm right about you being a coward, you're just too frickin' stubborn to admit it." Blake raised a hand to backhand her, but Lily pulled out her wand and pointed it at her brother.
"You do it, I swear to God I'll curse you into the middle of next week," Lily said fiercely. Blake pulled his wand out and pointed it at Lily.
"You do and it'll be the last mistake you'll ever make," Blake said in a deadly tone. Lily slowly lowered her wand and went inside, glaring at her brother until he was out of sight. Harry and Hermione had left, and Julia was in the kitchen, head in her hands, sniffling every once in a while. Lily sat next to her and shook her head, glaring at the door that led to the deck, to where her brother still was.
"My brother's an asshole. Dad was right, he is a shitty father."
"He's better than most."
"Yeah, well at least most fathers have jobs, and don't quit them because of who their father is."
"Lily, he's your brother, you shouldn't say such mean things about him."
"Yeah, so? He's my father's son, and you heard what he said to him."
"It'll all blow over. In a few days everything will be back to the way it was."
The memory started to change, and Lily said in a deadpan, "It was never the same after that."
A/N: Here you go, y'all, here's chapter 6, a nice long one for ya!!! That should make up for the past few short ones. Please review!!!
Husker_fan_2006
P.S. I've decided to just post the rest of this story in big chunks of like three or four chapters at a time so I can finish it faster. Hope you enjoy the rest of it, thanks for your reviews!!
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