Fate's Never Ending Cycle

husker_fan_2006

Rating: PG
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 15/07/2006
Last Updated: 17/08/2006
Status: in_progress

A few months after returning from the past, the second-generation trio is off on another adventure, this time nineteen years into the future. At seventeen, they look at the future with bright hopes and optimism. But when the future becomes the present, they find that life didn't turn out like they hoped. It's full of fighting, deceit, divorce, and pain. Soon the trio looks to the future with the dread of what they will become.

Chapters

1. Prologue

2. Nineteen Years into the Future

3. Our Fifty-five Year Old Parents

4. Our Thirty-Six Year Old Selves

5. Treading Carefully

6. Lily's Pensieve

7. Lily's Pensieve II

1. Prologue

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Fate's Never Ending Cycle

Summary: A few months after returning from the past, the second-generation trio is off on another adventure, this time nineteen years into the future. They're grown up, thirty-six, and married off. It seems like the perfect life, but the passing of time brings some terrible things. The trio finds that the future is full of divorce, unwanted in-laws, losing jobs, and the events of the future make them wish they could go back to when they are seventeen and want to make different decisions to avoid the future they saw.

Chapter 1: Prologue

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Late at night, the Gryffindor Common Room was dimly lit; the only light was from the dying fire. The room was empty except for a couple sitting in a chair in front of the fire, blanket wrapped up around them. They were sound asleep, arms wrapped around each other. The girl had raven black hair, and even though you couldn't see them, she had bright emerald eyes behind oval shaped glasses. The boy was a handsome one, with brown hair and tan skin. It was a perfect little scene, going undisturbed until someone stood over them, looking down on the scene. It was another couple; the boy had messy black hair and vivid green eyes, with a devilish grin on his face, his girlfriend, mirroring the grin, had shining blue eyes and flaming red hair, like everyone else who had the same last name as her. The girl looked at the couple in the chair.

“Aww, look at them, aren't they adorable?” she whispered.

“I know, they are, it'd be a shame if somebody woke them up,” the boy said. With bigger grins at each other, the boy and girl tipped the chair backwards; just enough to wake up the two in the chair. The girl in the chair almost screamed and they both scrambled for something to grab onto, but the girl's scream was silenced by the chair thumping back to the ground. She looked up to see who tilted the chair back and glared at the other boy and girl, who just happened to be her brother and best friend.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” The redhead grinned.

“We need to talk to you.”

“Couldn't you just gently shake me?” The black haired girl said.

“No, that wouldn't have been as fun.” The boy in the chair stood up, pulled his girlfriend up and with one look at his girlfriend's brother, started to go to the boys' dormitories. The raven-haired boy nodded shortly at his sister's boyfriend.

“Will.” Will nodded back.

“Blake.” He turned to his girlfriend. “Good night Lily.” Once Will had disappeared up the staircase, Lily smacked her brother on the arm.

“What is it with you?” she said fiercely. “Gosh, you're worse than Dad.”

“Just looking out for my little sister,” Blake said, grinning. Lily rolled her eyes.

“That's a lame excuse. It seems like you only are looking out for me when there's a boyfriend of mine to torment. Other than that, you're never there for me.”

“That's not true,” Blake said defensively.

“Anyway, what did you two want that was so important that you had to wake me up from one of the best sleeps I've ever had in my entire life?” With another devilish grin, the redhead pulled out a book and showed it to Lily.

“Feeling adventurous?” Lily looked at the book and recognized it immediately. It was called, Illegal Time Travel for the Rebellious. It was in that book that gave them one of the potions that brought them back in time where they almost threatened their own existence when they met their parents as seventeen year olds.

“Julia, are you crazy? You want to go back again?”

“No, not back. Forward. This time we're going to make sure we get the potion right so we go forward in time and see where we end up.”

“You two are insane.”

“C'mon, Lils, have some fun.” Lily looked at her brother and rolled her eyes.

“Well, if you won't go along with this, Jules and I will just have to go ourselves.” The two turned for the portrait hole. Lily called after them.

“Wait!” Julia and Blake stopped and turned. Lily caught up with them.

“Well, I don't condone it, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let you two go at this alone, I wouldn't want you to kill yourselves.” Lily went out the portrait hole first, and Blake and Julia grinned at each other before following her.

A/n: Hey there y'all! Here's the first chapter to my sequel, hope you enjoyed it, I know it's short, but just hang in there. Maybe while you're waiting for the next one, you could write something in that little box at the bottom of the page and send it!!

Husker-fan-2006

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2. Nineteen Years into the Future

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Chapter 2: Nineteen Years into the Future

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“Ok, do you have all the ingredients for this?”

“Yep, and the potion is all made up and everything,” Jules said, grinning.

“You've made it already?”

“Yep.”

“You're sure it works?”

“We did everything like the book said.”

“You're sure?” Blake sighed.

“Yes, Lils, come on, have some confidence in us.”

“Yeah, but,” Lily said, grimacing. “Your potions grades are horrible.”

“Well, then this time, you know we did it right,” Julia said. “Because we didn't have you looking over our shoulder and nagging that we're doing it wrong like we do in potions.” Julia grinned as Lily gave her a deadly glare.

“Joking, Lils.”

The potion was divided up between the three of them and the date was tossed into the potion already. They clinked the glasses together and Blake said, “Cheers. See you two in the future.” Julia laughed.

“The last time we said that we ended up in the past.”

“Let's hope we don't this time,” Lily said before she tilted her head back and emptied the contents of her goblet. Her brother and best friend followed her, and they were flung forward into time. The landing in the different time was always a rough one, and all three of them fell when they arrived in the future. They helped each other up, and looked around. Everything looked the same as it did nineteen years ago. Blake and Julia were going to leave, but Lily held them back.

“We need to change appearance. People are going to recognize us.” She pointed her wand at Blake.

“Changpeloencio!” Blake's messy hair changed from black to a dirty blonde.

“Aww, dang it, I liked the black hair,” Julia said.

“Why am I a blonde, not brown?”

“Your future self would remember it.” She pointed at Julia.

“Changpeloencio!” Julia's hair turned black and shortened to her shoulders.

Julia looked at her short hair and said in surprise, “You cut my hair!”

“Yeah. Don't worry, it'll grow back when you change it back.” Lily took a strand of her own hair in her hand and looked at it. She pointed at her hair with her wand and said, “Changpeloencio!” Her shoulder-length shiny black locks turned to a dirty blonde, an identical color to her brother's. She transfigured her glasses and Blake's glasses to blue contacts and they stuck them in.

Julia picked up a rock and was about to transfigure them to contacts when Blake said, “Don't do green.”

“Why not?”

“You have black hair.” She shrugged and turned the rock into hazel contacts and put them in. They all looked at each other and all nodded in approval at each other's appearance. They left the grounds and went into the castle. The first person they saw was a raven-haired girl at the top of the stairs. She saw them and said from where she was standing, “Hello.”

Lily said, “Hello.”

“Are you new students?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Oh, where are you from?”

“Salem Academy.”

“Oh really, all the way from America? Interesting. You don't sound like an American.”

“Oh, we only lived there for a little while.” The girl nodded and came down the stairs. When she reached the trio, she held out her hand.

“My name's Elizabeth Finnigan, but call me Beth. I'm Head Girl, so if you need anything, just ask me.” Lily looked closely at this girl and noticed she had that Potter black hair, and green eyes. Her last name was Finnigan, so Lily assumed that this Elizabeth was her daughter and that she ended up with Will. She shook Beth's hand.

“I'm Isabelle Peterson. This is my brother, Evan Peterson, and my best friend…” Julia interrupted saying,

“Lauren Davidson.”

“Well, it's nice to meet you. You'll have to go see the Headmaster about being placed in a house, I'll show you where it is.”

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The trio left Dumbledore's office a half hour later, all in Gryffindor. Beth said when they told her what house they had been placed in, “Excellent, that's what house I'm in.” She showed them to the common room and was beginning to show them around the room when a voice was heard from the couch in front of the fireplace. The exact couch that Lily and Will had just been sitting in nineteen years prior.

“Oh look, the room just got more bossy.” Beth rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, James.” The trio looked at each other. The owner of the voice stood and Beth gave him an annoyed look that he countered with a cocky smirk. The trio's jaws dropped slightly. He was an exact replica of Blake.

“New students I see. I'm James Potter, Beth's cousin.”

“We're friends of Beth.” Beth gave him a smug look that said, `so there!'

“Friends? Beth has friends? That's a first. Big day for you then, isn't it?” Beth pretended to look like the comment didn't hurt, but it was obvious that it did. She stared at the floor, trying to fight back a few tears.

“A word of advice, in this place, there's such thing as the wrong kind, and the right kind. Beth here, is the wrong kind. She'll bore you to death with her books and information. I can help you with finding the right kind here at Hogwarts.” He held out his hand to Blake first for him to shake. Blake looked at his future son's hand skeptically with a raised eyebrow.

“I think we're fine, thanks.”

“Suit yourself. But trust me, you'll be wanting to take me up on that offer later once you get to know her.” James started to walk away when all of a sudden Beth spoke up.

“Go to hell James.” James stopped in mid-step and turned.

“What was that?”

“You heard me. Are you happy now? You've embarrassed me in front of the new students, but…I won't sit back and let you verbally put me down anymore without offering any verbal retaliation. I am sick and tired of your cocky, arrogant…bullshit that you put on. You think you're the best there ever was because you're Harry Potter's grandson…” James gave a sarcastic laugh.

“I think I'm all that because I'm Harry Potter's grandson? I could care less whether I am or not, in fact, I'd rather not be! I'm not the one who's hiding behind his name like you do!”

“I do not.”

“Yeah you do, Beth.”

“I hope you burn in hell for everything you've ever done, James Potter, you and your father. You're both mean and spiteful and have no compassion or kindness for anything or anyone but yourselves.”

“I'll send my love from there then.” James turned and walked away and went up the boys' staircase. Beth sighed and sat down in the couch James just vacated. The trio carefully sat down in the chairs next to the couch, not knowing what to say next.

“I'm sorry about that. He's more suited for the Slytherin house for how much of a jackass he is, but…there he is. He's just like his dad.” Blake shifted uneasily in his chair.

“What did his dad do?” Lily asked. “I mean, if you don't mind us asking.”

“Well, a few years ago, my uncle and my Grandfather got into this huge row because Blake wanted to quit the Auror business, and his dad wasn't happy about it. So they haven't talked since unless they have to. Blake changed a lot, and a few months ago he and my aunt split, and that didn't set well with anyone in my family. Julia wanted to take my cousins, all of them, but James didn't go, he went with Blake. My other cousins don't go to school here, they transferred to Salem. I haven't seen them in years. Maybe you know them? Brandon and Michael Potter?”

Lily shrugged. “It's a huge school…” Beth nodded in understanding.

“Do you have any brothers and sisters?”

“Just a twin sister. She looks nothing like me, she has brown hair and blue eyes. She looks more like my Dad and I look more like my Mom. Her name is Gabrielle. She's nothing like me, she's more the sporty type.” Lily nodded, while her brother and best friend sat in silence, attempting to take all this new information in.

“Well, you three came at a really bad time, tomorrow everyone goes home for Christmas vacation. You just got here, and now you gotta turn around and go back. But you can stay here if you want. Or you can go and spend time with your family.”

“Oh, we all don't get along with our families apparently.”

“You don't? That's sad. You can come with Gabrielle and me if you want. There's always room for more people at our gatherings.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why not? You can meet my grandparents right now if you like. They're the Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.”

“Really,” Lily said, looking at Blake and Julia and smiling, “that's cool.”

“Who're your grandparents?”

“Harry and Hermione Potter.” The trio smiled and nodded. Blake and Lily glanced at each other. Time to go meet Mom and Dad.

A/n: Chapter 2 everyone! Like with Tricky Deals of Fate, I have to revamp a lot of stuff in this story to make it flow better and to add a little more to it. Hope it worked out well!! Please review!!!

Husker_fan_2006

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3. Our Fifty-five Year Old Parents

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Our Fifty-Five Year Old Parents

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The trio followed Beth to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and when they got there, both Harry and Hermione were there. Lily and Blake never thought about how old their parents were in this time, and it hit them with a pang of sadness at how their age was starting to show in their appearance. Harry's messy black hair was speckled with flecks of gray, and worry lines, laugh lines, and all other kinds of wrinkles were starting to become more apparent in their faces. Harry heard the four of them coming and looked up and smiled when he saw his granddaughter.

“Hi, Beth. What are you up to today?”

“Hi Grandpa. Nothing much, just showing the new students around.”

“Professor McGonagall told me there were three new students. All in Gryffindor too. It's good to hear,” Hermione said.

“Well, this is Isabelle, her brother Evan, and their best friend Lauren.” Handshakes went around the room. “They don't really have anywhere to go for Christmas, so do you think they could stay with all of us?”

“You'll have to ask your mum. I don't care, but you'll have to ask her. Send her an owl,” Hermione said.

“Ok, I will.” Lily glanced over at her dad and noticed he was looking at them funny. She raised an eyebrow in question and Harry looked away. Lily glanced at her mother and noticed that she was looking at her the same way.

“You three seem very familiar,” Hermione said, “have we ever met before?” Blake shook his head.

“Um, I don't think so.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I think we would've remembered if we had ever met the famous Harry Potter and his wife,” Julia said.

“Well, I'm probably just imagining things,” Hermione said. Five minutes later, the four of them left the classroom and headed back to the Gryffindor common room. Once they were out of earshot of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, Hermione said to her husband, “They look awfully familiar, don't they?”

“Yeah, I was noticing that too.”

“You don't suppose…? No, they couldn't be…could they?”

“You mean our…”

“Yeah.”

“No, they couldn't be…but, maybe…” When the trio and Beth got back to the Common Room, Beth summoned her owl and wrote a short note to her mother and sent the owl off carrying a note to Lily's future self.

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The next morning at the breakfast table, Beth's owl came back from her mother saying it was all right if the new Gryffindors could come stay with them for Christmas. When she opened the letter, and read it, Blake asked after a while, “Well?” Beth looked up at her future uncle.

“She says she doesn't care, it'd be nice to have some people join us.”

“Ok, so we are welcome, it's not just a thing that they'll put up with us because they feel sorry for us that we have nowhere to go for Christmas, right?” Beth shook her head no. That afternoon, the students prepared to go home for the holidays. While Lily, Blake, Julia were bringing their things down to the common room, they met a girl in the common room, also bringing her luggage down. The three of them knew exactly who it was, and Beth saying that her sister looked a little like her dad was an understatement. Gabrielle Finnigan looked like a feminine version of Will. When Gabrielle saw the trio, she held out her hand.

“You must be the new students that are coming home with us. I'm Beth's sister, Gabrielle. You can call me Bree for short. I don't really know why you'd want to come with us, I mean; we aren't that fun or interesting of a family. Half of it's missing.” Blake shrugged.

“Oh well, it's better than ours. Most of ours is missing.”

“But you shouldn't complain about what family you have, it could be worse.”

“She's right, Bree, it could be worse,” Beth said as she was coming down the stairs with her suitcase floating behind her.

“But don't get us wrong you three, we love our family, they just piss us off sometimes.”

“Tell me about it,” Lily said. The five of them sat in the common room until Harry and Hermione came and got them. Then, the seven of them went down to the Three Broomsticks to apparate.

“Oh, we didn't even think to ask, have you three taken your apparation tests?” Hermione asked. The three of them nodded.

“Ok, good. Sorry, we didn't even think to ask before.” Before Lily, Blake and Julia knew it, they were apparating to Lily's future home, and stood outside of a large white house with blue shutters. The snow covering everything gave the house a Christmas card feel. There were subtle decorations outside, not overdone like some people's houses. Everyone came up the sidewalk, the trio the last ones to come in. Beth opened the door and held it open for everyone as they went inside. Lily's jaw dropped when she saw the inside of her future home. It was one of those old fashioned houses, with huge ceilings and long curving stairs at the end of the hallway. Each room was just off the hallway. The first door on the right was a library; on the left was the dining room. They kept walking and saw the second door on the right was the living room, on the left was the kitchen, and the last door was a bathroom. Lily turned her head and saw a woman with black hair come out of the kitchen, wipe her hands off on a towel, and say hello to her family. She hugged her daughters, and hugged her parents. She turned and faced the trio, an arm still around her daughter and smiled. Lily's jaw dropped slightly as she looked into the face of her thirty-six year old self.

A/n: Ok, extremely short chapter here, I'm really sorry. I'll try to update ASAP!!! Please review!!!

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4. Our Thirty-Six Year Old Selves

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Chapter 4: Our Thirty-Six Year Old Selves

A/n: READ THIS SO YOU'RE NOT CONFUSED!! To try to avoid confusion, whenever referring to Lily Potter, I'll use the name Isabelle. Whenever referring to Lily Finnigan, I'll use Lily. When I'm referring to Julia Potter, I'll use the name Julia, when referring to Julia Weasley, I'll use Lauren. Later in the story when I refer to older Blake Potter, I'll use Blake, and I'm sure you've figured this out already, but when I refer to younger Blake, I'll use Evan.

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Lily Anne Potter-Finnigan smiled warmly at the guests, and introduced herself to Blake and Julia.

“Hi, I'm Beth and Bree's mum, Lily. You must be the new students Beth wrote me about.”

“Yeah, we are. I'm Evan, this is my best friend and girlfriend, Lauren, and that's my sister…Isabelle, over there.” He pointed to his sister and she came out of her stupor long enough to say hi and shake hands. Like her dad did, Lily had to look closely at Isabelle. She looked strangely familiar.

“You look really familiar, Isabelle. Do I know your mother?” Isabelle's eyes quickly shot from her mother to her older self.

“You might.”

Lily shrugged slightly and said to her mother, “I've got some good news, Mum.”

“What's that?”

“Guess who's coming for Christmas?”

“Blake?” Lily snorted and laughed.

“God no, I wouldn't even let him in my house.” Isabelle and Evan looked at each other uneasily.

Hermione said in a subtle scolding way, “Lily.”

“What? I'm serious, I wouldn't let him in my house, the guy's an asshole.”

“Despite what he's said and done, he's still your brother, your twin brother even. But no, who's coming?”

“Jules flooed over her this morning on her way to work and told me that she and the kids are coming over tomorrow. They're going to stay in England until the kids go back to school. But they'll be going back and forth between families, hers and ours.”

“That's wonderful! We haven't seen them in years!”

“I know, that's why she said she's coming. She hasn't been home in years and is getting homesick.”

“Where's Will?” Harry asked.

Lily's expression fell and she said shortly, “Work.”

“Is something wrong?” Lily looked as though she was going to go into the whole story, but changed her mind.

“No. Nothing's wrong.” Lily's parents weren't convinced, but decided to ask her later. After everyone was settled in, that night Isabelle ventured downstairs, and heard her parents talking with her older self. She stood outside the kitchen door, listening to the conversation.

“So, what's going on between you and Will?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, Lils, there's something going on, what is it?”

“No, that's the thing, there's nothing going on between us. Anymore.”

“What's wrong?” Lily shrugged.

“He's having an affair with a woman from his office.” Harry and Hermione's mouths fell open slightly at the same time.

“Does he know you know?” Lily shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“What happened?”

“I don't know, we sort of just…fell apart. It was like one day I was thinking I had a great family, loving husband and everything, and the next day I'm at home by myself waiting for my husband to come home, after hearing another one of his lame excuses, then having to hear from his best friend the next day that Will's cheating on me with a woman almost fifteen years younger than me, and she's pregnant with his baby.” Hermione's jaw dropped and she put a hand to her mouth. Harry looked as though he was about to hunt down a certain son-in-law of his and kick his butt. Isabelle silently gasped.

“How long have you known this?”

“A month or so.”

“When does he come home?”

“He won't be home for a while. At least until midnight or later.”

“I'll be waiting for him when he comes home.”

“Dad, don't get involved. It's not your battle.”

“I'm trying to help you, Lily.”

“I know, but I can take care of myself, I'm not your little girl anymore.”

“No matter how old you get, Lils, you'll always be my little girl. And that's why I'm trying to help.”

“Like I said, I know. This is something I need to do by myself.”

“She's right, Harry, it's not our business to get involved.” Harry sighed.

“You're right. You're both right. I'm sorry.” Lily looked at the clock on the wall.

“Well, it's getting late, I think it's time to turn in. I'm going to bed.” She stood up and gave her parents a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Isabelle hid so her older self wouldn't see her. Once Lily had gone, Isabelle heard Harry say to Hermione,

“It's a weird thing, Hermione, remember how when we were young that people had problems staying together, and now this generation has more problems with it. There's more divorce and separation now than there used to be.”

“Pretty soon it'll be uncool to still be married.”

“Well, if that's the case I'd rather be uncool then.”

“Me too. Cuz' I don't plan on letting you go.”

“I'm not going to let you go, either.” Isabelle heard them kiss.

“Lily's right, it is getting late,” Hermione said. “I think it's time for bed.”

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The next morning, the trio came downstairs to find loud conversations going on throughout the house. The trio looked at each other, then they saw a Weasley red head come out of the living room and go into the kitchen.

“You must be here, Jules,” Evan said to Lauren. In the living room, Julia was sitting in a chair, two of her four children there too. One was sitting on the floor leaning against his mother's legs, and the other was sitting on her grandfather's lap. Julia saw the trio right away.

“Hello. You must be the new guests. I'm Lily's sister-in-law, Julia.”

“I'm Lauren, this is my boyfriend Evan, and his twin sister, Isabelle.” Julia's third child came back into the kitchen, nodded a hello to the guests and sat next to his aunt.

“Well, this is my son, my second oldest, Michael, he's thirteen,” She motioned to the son who was sitting next to Lily, then to the one by her feet,

“This is my third oldest, Brandon, he's nine, and there is my youngest and only daughter, Adriana, who's almost three.” All of Julia's children had red hair. James had to have been the only person with Weasley blood not to have red hair. All of the boys looked almost a lot like Blake, and Isabelle noticed that Adriana looked like Lily Evans Potter when she was little, judging from the pictures she had seen. Every single one of the children had green eyes.

Isabelle smiled and playing the part, said, “Are green eyes a hereditary thing this family? I've noticed that everyone who has Potter blood has green eyes.”

“At least it's a beautiful color, not some plain and dull color or something,” Lauren said. “I have this uncle who has icy gray eyes, it's really creepy, but it's a really cool color.”

“I have an uncle with eyes that color too. Especially since his and my aunt's kids have that color of eyes, and they have silvery red hair, it's…interesting, and really beautiful.”

“Your daughter is beautiful, Mrs. Potter,” Evan said.

“Oh God no, don't call me Mrs. Potter. Just call me Julia.”

“Well, your daughter is beautiful, Julia.” Julia beamed with pride. “She looks like her great-grandmother on her dad's side. I've seen pictures of Lily when she was that age, and Adriana looks exactly like her.” Being the shy one that she was, Adriana tried to hide in Harry's arms. Julia smiled like any mother would at her daughter.

“She's a little shy.”

“Well, I'm going to get breakfast going, someone want to go upstairs and get the girls up?” Lily said, standing up. Brandon and Michael looked at each other and grinned mischievously.

“We're on it.” Julia and Hermione stood up too.

“We'll help you, Lils,” Julia said. When everyone had left, all that were still in the living room were Harry, Adriana and the trio. The trio sat down on the couch.

“So what are you all going into after you finish school?”

“We're all studying to be Aurors.”

“Except for Isabelle here who'll be a teacher.”

“I'm not going to be a teacher, for the last time.”

“Well, that's what I always said growing up, Isabelle. I never wanted to be a teacher; that was something Hermione would most likely do, but now, here I am, I've been teaching for I think…twenty-six years.” He nodded confirming the question to whether that was the right number or not. “Yeah, twenty-six years, because Lily and Blake were ten when Hermione and started teaching. And they're thirty-six now.” Evan was about to say something but didn't when Adriana climbed down from Harry's lap and toddled over to Evan and held her arms out like she wanted to be held. Evan picked her up and set her on his lap. She put her hands on his cheeks and said in her sweet little baby voice, “Daddy.” Evan smiled.

“I'm not your daddy sweetie.”

“Daddy,” Adriana said again. Isabelle glanced nervously over at her father, and noticed his mouth was open slightly and his brow was furrowed in surprise.

“That's strange, Adriana doesn't usually take to strangers right away.” Adriana put her thumb in her mouth and leaned against her future dad. Evan kissed her head and leaned his chin lightly against his future daughter's head. Michael and Brandon came into the living room and Michael said to Harry, “Grandpa, we need your help, Bree and Beth won't get up.” Harry smiled.

“Alright,” he said to the trio, “I'll be right back.”

“What's with her?” Evan said once Harry had left. He motioned at the toddler in his arms.

“She recognizes that you are Blake Potter, and you are her dad, just not that you're seventeen and from the past.”

“But why doesn't she recognize Julia as her mother?” Isabelle shrugged.

“I don't know, maybe you have a bigger impact on your daughter.”

“But I don't live in the same house as her in the future.”

“I don't know, Blake,” Isabelle said defensively. “I'm just throwing stuff out here.”

“Maybe because she misses her dad and recognizes the connection and instantly knows he's her dad,” Lauren said. “Whereas she sees her mother everyday and knows who she is.” Evan self-consciously started swaying from side to side, rocking his daughter. Soon she had fallen asleep. Isabelle smiled.

“You'll make a good dad someday, Blake.”

“If I'm there.” Lauren was about to say something when Lily came back into the living room. She was about to ask the trio some things about what they wanted with breakfast and how they wanted their eggs, but she stopped when she saw her niece sitting on Evan's lap.

“You got her to sleep?” Evan nodded.

“She just crawled down from Professor Potter's lap and wanted to be picked up by Bl…Evan, and soon she fell asleep,” Isabelle said.

“That's odd, she never likes strangers.” Evan shrugged. Lily asked her questions and went back into the kitchen. The trio got up and went into the kitchen. They heard the tail end of what Harry was saying to his daughter-in-law and wife.

“…just crawled right up on his lap. Even called him Daddy.” Everyone turned when they saw the trio come in, Evan carrying Adriana.

“That…is just unusual.” Lily closed her eyes for a second and saw a flashback. It was a few years ago, when her brother held a three-year-old Michael. He looked almost exactly like Evan standing there holding Adriana. It was like deja vu.

“Evan, if you want, you can take her upstairs to her bed and put her down until breakfast. It's the second door on the left,” Julia said. Evan nodded and left the kitchen. There was an awkward silence until Isabelle said to Lauren, “Should we go see if the boys got Beth and Bree up yet?” Lauren nodded and they both left the kitchen.

“There's something weird about those three,” Lily said as soon as Isabelle and Lauren were out of ear shot.

A/n: Oh, trouble's a brewin'!! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not doing as well on this story as others, usually I have the next like two or three chapters fixed already after updates, but with this one I'm not. Oh well, I'll get it out, eventually. My goal, though…to get all of this story posted, and all of The Tip of the Knife written and posted before I start my first day of classes as a college freshman on August 30th! Anyways, please review!!!

Husker-fan-2006

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5. Treading Carefully

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Chapter 5: Treading Carefully

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The incident with Evan and Adriana was a highly talked about subject between the adults in the Potter family, only being spoken about when it was just them. It was a highly talked about topic among the trio too, for they knew it was being conversed among the adults. The trio was trying to act like it wasn't a big deal, that it was just a one-time thing, but Adriana wasn't helping. Every time she saw Evan she would toddle up to him and reach out to be picked up and say, “Daddy!” Every time she did it, it would draw a suspicious glance between the adults. Julia tried explaining to her daughter that Evan wasn't her daddy, but no matter what was said, Adriana still called Evan daddy.

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Late at night, Isabelle had gone downstairs to eavesdrop on the adults, and Evan and Lauren were in Isabelle and Lauren's room talking. Lauren was silent until Evan said, “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said in an unconvincing tone.

“Liar. You're upset about something.”

“It's nothing. I mean, who wouldn't be upset about the fact that her future daughter doesn't come running to her when she sees her, but will to her dad.”

“Like Lily said, Jules, it's probably because she sees your future self all the time, and only sees her dad every once in a while if ever, and recognizes the connection between myself and her father, as we're the same people.”

“But why doesn't she see it in me?”

“Because to a two-year-old, you don't have two mothers.” Lauren looked as though she was about ready to agree, but said,

“Do you feel like we're being watched?” Lauren shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“Someone's listening. Drop the conversation.”

“Alright, I'm going back to my room, see you in the morning.”

“Night.” Evan got up, kissed Lauren goodnight, and left the room. When the door to both rooms was closed, the door to another room opened, and Lily Finnigan came out of the room. She had been walking by Isabelle and Lauren's room and heard Evan and Lauren talking, and couldn't stop herself from listening. Her mouth was slightly open in shock at what she just heard. She got what she came upstairs for and went back downstairs.

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Isabelle leaned against the wall next to the doorway to the living room, listening to the conversation in the next room.

“Ok, something is really weird about those three. It's like they're not who they're telling us who they are,” Julia said.

“They look really familiar too, but I can't put my finger on who they remind me of,” Hermione said.

“Seeing Evan with Adriana was almost exactly like seeing Blake with her again. I don't know why. That smile is really familiar.”

“It looks like a Potter smile.” Julia laughed.

“The Potters have a certain smile?” Hermione nodded.

“Yeah. Haven't you ever noticed that Blake and Harry have the same smile?” Julia shook her head.

“I hadn't really noticed that they were the same.” Just then, self-consciously Harry grinned. Julia looked at him and she laughed.

“Oh my gosh, they are the same.”

“See?”

“I never noticed that before.”

“Ok, so why does Adriana call Evan Daddy? He's not old enough to be her dad, and of course isn't her dad. But every time she sees him, she runs to him and calls him Daddy demanding to be held. It's almost like they're…” Isabelle craned her neck to try to hear better when her mother trailed off.

“Do you get the feeling we're being watched?” Julia said suddenly.

“What is it with you and those feelings? How can you tell that?”

“Instinct.”

“Shouldn't you be in bed by now?” a voice behind Isabelle muttered causing her to jump. She turned and saw her older self standing behind her.

“Um…I…I was…sle…sleep walking,” Isabelle stammered. “Yeah, I do that a lot.” Lily looked thoughtful, as if trying to remember something.

“Hmm, that's funny, I don't remember ever having a problem with sleep walking.” Isabelle bit her lip in anxiety, afraid of what Lily would say next.

“Didn't you learn this lesson once already?” She paused before saying, “Lily.”

A/n: SHORT CHAPTER, I KNOW, I'M SORRY!!!!!! I'LL UPDATE AS SOON AS I CAN!!!!!……………WHY AM I YELLING??…………………….LOUD NOISES!!! ………Anyways…sorry for the short chapter, but it was a really good cliffhanger for y'all. I just wanna say this already; this story isn't going to be as long as Tricky Deals of Fate. Just to let ya know. Please review!!!!

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6. Lily's Pensieve

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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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7. Lily's Pensieve II

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Chapter 7: Lily's Pensieve Part II

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Lily held onto Adriana as glass crashed as it was thrown and voices rang out through the house. It was the memory of the day her brother and sister-in-law got divorced. Lily clutched her niece tightly, while Adriana tried to cover her ears with her arms. Adriana was crying, not understanding why all the yelling was going on. James was upstairs in his room, trying not to listen to the fight, and Brandon and Michael were at their grandparents' house. Blake left the living room and into the hallway towards the door. Julia shouted to him, “You step out that door, be expecting divorce papers by owl soon!”

Blake shouted back, “I'll look forward to it!”

“You set foot in this house ever again, Blake James Potter, so help me God I'll curse you to all ends of the earth like I would any intruder!”

“If you can ever think of a reason for me to come back, tell me and I'll make sure I never do it!” Blake opened the door and Adriana squirmed to get down. Lily set her on the floor and Adriana ran as fast as her little toddler legs would take her.

“Daddy!” she yelled. Blake turned and scooped his daughter up and hugged her. Adriana cried, “Don't go, Daddy.”

“It'll be ok, Adriana. Daddy's just going away for a while. It'll be ok.” Lily heard a creak of a stairs and turned and saw her nephew up at the landing. Blake set his daughter down, but she wouldn't let go of him. Blake said to her, “I'll come back some day, sweetie.” He kissed her on the forehead and she let him go. Lily came and picked Adriana up again and dried her tears.

“You can't go, Blake. You can't leave your family like this.”

“You don't understand Lily…”

“You're right, I don't. I don't understand how a man can just walk out on his family just because of a stupid fight with his wife.” Blake didn't say anything, just summoned luggage and started to walk out the door.

“It's complicated, Lily. Things aren't fixed as easily as they were when we were kids.”

“Really? You seem like you're taking the easy way out. Leaving.”

“Don't judge me, Lils. Your marriage is on the rocks just as much as mine is.” Blake opened the door but stopped when he heard his son run down the stairs. Dragging a suitcase behind him down the stairs, James yelled to his dad, “Dad, wait!” Blake ignored him and started to walk out the door. “Dad! Wait!” This time Blake stopped. James said, “I'm coming with you.”

“You're staying here, James.”

“No, I'm coming with you, I want to go with you.”

“You need to be here with your mother. Take care of her.”

“Brandon and Michael can do that, I want to go with you.”

“Talk to your mother about it.”

“Whether she says so or not, I'm coming with you.” Blake sighed and finally gave in.

“Fine.” A choked sob was heard and everyone turned to see Julia standing in the doorway to the living room, tears rolling down her face. James looked at her and said, “Bye, Mum.” Julia had a look of emotional pain on her face as she cried, and watched her son walk out the door following his father. Once the door closed, Adriana squirmed again to get down and ran to the door and started crying again.

“Daddy! No!” A tear fell down Lily' cheek. She wiped it away and picked up her niece again and tried to comfort her, but nothing worked.

“I can't believe he left,” Lily said to her sister-in-law.

“Which one?”

“Both of them.”

“I knew James would go with him. There's no way I could've stopped him. He's just like his dad. And now, I'll never see him again.”

“You might someday, you never know.”

“I hope so.” Julia went up the stairs and Lily heard the door click shut upstairs.

The memory started to change, and while it did, Isabelle said, “That's why Adriana ran to Blake when she saw him. She recognized the connection of being the same person, and she remembered that her dad said he'd come back some day. When she saw Blake, she ran to him because she thought her dad had come back.” Understanding fell over Lily's face.

“That makes sense. I hadn't thought about that.” When the new memory came to focus, Lily's expression hardened and Isabelle tried to figure out what it was. It was the day where everything between Will and Lily started to go downhill. The day she lost their third child, a son.

“Will, it's not that big of deal, people get fired all the time.”

“Yeah, but those people never have a wife, two children and one more on the way.”

“We'll figure something out. If it comes to last resorts, we can borrow money.”

“Who has money that we could borrow?”

“My parents?”

“I'm not borrowing money from your father.”

“Why won't you?”

“I have more pride than that.”

“What's wrong with borrowing money from my dad?”

“Never mind. Hopefully it won't come to that.” Will walked away from his wife and she followed. He stopped at the top of the stairs when Lily said,

“Why won't you do it? Oh, I know. It's a pride thing, isn't it? You feel inferior.”

“I don't feel inferior to anybody,” Will said defensively.

“Good, because you know you aren't.”

“I know that, Lily.”

“Well, I can work, I can go back to my job. My boss said anytime I want to go back to work, they'd be happy to have me back.”

“You don't need to do that, Lily.”

“Well, it'd just be a temporary thing, since you're out of a job, and we need some source of income…”

“I said no! Damnit, why don't you listen? I just said I don't want you going back to work!”

“Well, let's here some of your brilliant ideas, then!”

“I don't know yet, but I don't want you going to work!”

“Why?”

“Because you shouldn't have to, I should be the one who goes and makes money.” Lily's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. She said coldly,

“Excuse me? You're the one who is supposed to make the money in this family? What are you living in the fifties? Will, you don't have a job. I have the opportunity to get mine back and make money for us, just let me go back to it. I miss it.”

“What do you miss so much about chasing Death Eaters down?”

“Just being involved and making a difference. I miss…working alongside my parents and my brother, working with Julia. I haven't seen her in ages, Will. I want to go back. Now that there's a need for it, I want to go back.” Will sighed and yelled,

“Damnit, I told you I don't want you going back to work!” Lily glared at him.

“Do you understand me Lily?” Lily opened her mouth to speak but decided against it. She nodded.

“Good.”

He was about to walk away, but Lily said, “But…” Will's temper exploded.

“No buts! I said no!” He took a few steps closer to Lily, and in fear she stepped back a few steps.

“I said no! You're not going back! For once in your life, stop talking and listen to me!” Will took a swing at Lily and she leaned back to avoid his hand. Will grabbed her by her arm and held on tight.

“Tell me you're going to listen to me and not go back! ANSWER ME!” Lily remained silent, but she did fix a glare on her husband.

“Do you really think force is going to get me to agree with you? I'm not afraid of you, Will.”

“Then agree with me! Listen to me for once!”

“No.” Will pushed her and let go her arms sent her tumbling down the stairs. She screamed as she fell, and Will stood at the top of the stairs, watching her fall. Lily landed on the landing unconscious. The next memory was when Lily was in the hospital. She was just waking up and the first person she saw was her mother sitting in a chair reading a book. She blinked a little bit and said groggily,

“Mum?” Hermione's head snapped up and she shut the book. She stood up and sat on the bed next to her daughter.

Lily tried to sit up, but Hermione said, “Lily, just…stay still.”

“What happened?”

“You fell down the stairs. Will said it was an accident. You were standing too close and took a step back and fell.” Hermione handed her daughter her glasses, and Lily slipped them on.

“I did?” Hermione nodded gravely.

“Mmm hmm.” Lily was about to ask why, but then the memory came to mind.

“How long have I been here and been out?”

“A few hours.”

“Where's Will?”

“He's in the waiting room with your dad. He's been very worried about you.”

“That's surprising when it was his fault that I fell in the first place.”

“He told us it was an accident.”

“Course he would. He pushed me. He wouldn't have told you and Dad the truth.”

“What happened?” Lily told her all about the fight, the pointless fight that had landed her in the hospital. Hermione was about to say something but her daughter interrupted her. “Where are Bree and Belle?”

“They're with Jules and Blake.”

“How long am I going to be here?”

“I don't know. It was nasty fall. You have lots of bumps and bruises.”

“I hope I'm not here too much longer, there's stuff in the baby room I want to finish sometime this week, and I…what?” Lily said, seeing the sad look on her mother's face.

“Mum, what is it?” Hermione sighed sadly.

“Lily, there isn't going to be a baby.”

“What? Why?”

“It's gone.” Tears forming, Lily said desperately, “Why?”

“Sweetie, you fell down the stairs. The baby's gone.” Lily's face crumpled in agony and she heaved a huge sob. Tears rolling down her face, she put a hand over her mouth. Hermione pulled her up and hugged her as she cried. After a little while, Lily said, still crying,

“Do they know what it was, a boy or a girl?”

“It was a boy.” Lily closed her eyes; two more tears sliding down her cheeks. She sat there crying in her mother's arms for what seemed like hours. Once Lily stopped crying, Will came to see her. The first thing he did when he saw his wife was rush over and give her a kiss and a hug. He said as he was holding her,

“I'm…so sorry, Lily.” Lily didn't answer him, just gave him a cold look.

“I'm sorry.”

“Sorry doesn't even begin to fix what you did.”

“It was an accident, Lily. Don't you remember?”

“Accident or not, our baby is dead, Will.”

“Hey, there can be other children.” The memory changed again and it was a few years later, Lily was again pregnant, and was moving around her kitchen, putting dishes away while her mother was helping cook for Bree and Belle's birthday party. Lily stood on her tiptoes to reach the top shelf to put a bowl away, but her belly was in the way. She muttered,

“Damnit.” Hermione stopped stirring and came over to help.

“Here, you stir, I'll put the dishes away.” They traded places and all of a sudden, Lily stopped stirring and stood still, and placed a hand over her stomach. Worry spread over her face, and she said,

“Mum?”

“What is it, Lils?” Hermione turned to face her daughter.

“Something's wrong.”

“What's the matter?”

“He's not kicking. Isn't a baby supposed to always do that?” Worry spread over Hermione's face, and she shut the stove off and rushed her daughter to the hospital, where the healer told Lily that she had lost another baby. Later that evening, Will and Lily were sitting in the hospital room and Will said,

“Well, we can always try again, I mean, we can still…”

“No, Will,” Lily said quietly.

“What?”

“I can't do this anymore.”

“Can't do what anymore?”

“Can't lose another child again. Two times is too many. I can't take it anymore.”

“Well, who's to say it'll be another miscarriage?”

“Who's to say it won't? I can't lose another one, Will. I just can't.” The memory slowly changed, and Isabelle saw that Lily knew which one was coming next. She was sitting in the Leaky Cauldron on a cold snowy day, sitting with one of her husband's friends from work, Caleb Davis. Lily sighed.

“Caleb, what did want to talk to me about, I'm on a tight schedule, I have to get my errands done, pick up the girls and head home. What's this all about?”

“I feel like I should let you know what's been going on.”

“What has?”

“With Will.”

“What about him?” Caleb said slowly,

“Lily, I want you to know first that I know we don't know each other that well, but I want to you to know that I'd never lie to you.”

“Just get to the point, Caleb.”

“Will's having an affair.” Lily's jaw dropped slightly.

“With a woman that's about twenty or so, it's been going on for almost six months.” Lily said in shock,

“How do you know about this?”

“He brags about at work. Then one day about two months ago, she came into work, and told him she was pregnant. With his baby.” Lily took a deep breath and sat up straight, putting a hand to her mouth. She looked away, trying to take this all in. Her husband was cheating on her. With a woman almost half her age. And she was pregnant with his baby.

“I'm sorry to have to tell you this. Maybe I shouldn't have.”

“No. Thank you for telling me. It's probably better this way. I've got to get going.”

“If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask.” Lily smiled weakly and nodded.

“I have to go.” Lily got up and left, going out into the snow. She walked past store buildings and glanced over at her reflection in a window. She stopped and stood in front of it, and took off her hood, letting her hair flow around her in the chilling December wind. The snow clung to her ebony locks and she analyzed her reflection. Her usually vibrant green eyes looked as though the life had been sucked from them. The snow in her hair made her look like she had aged thirty years. Laugh lines were beginning to form from years of happy times and laughter. Crow's feet were barely visible under her eyeliner. She sighed. No wonder he left her. She was thirty-five years old, she wasn't the teenager she used to be. Oh how she missed those days. She was the top of her class in school, but missed the Head Girl opportunity because of her mischief she had caused with her brother and best friend. Underneath all the facial imperfections, she could still see that seventeen year old looking back at her; back to the time before fate's never ending cycle took its toll on her. As she looked back, most of her adult life was nothing but tough times, at the moment she couldn't think of any happy times. She turned from the window and headed home.

Present Lily said to Isabelle as the memories faded away, “Can I give you some advice, Lily?”

“What?”

“Don't stay with Will. He's nothing like I thought he'd be. He's turned away from everything and everyone. In fact, he and his dad have disowned each other.”

“Just like Blake and Dad?” Lily nodded.

They came out of the pensieve and Lily said, “Will's turned everything into something that's against him. His mind is corrupted. He's nothing like he was when he was seventeen. Don't think that you have to get married right away, keep your options open. The only thing good that I got out of him were my daughters. He's not a good husband.” Isabelle was about to answer, when someone knocked on the door. Lily and Isabelle look at each other in confusion and Lily looked at her watch and said,

“Who would come at this hour?” Isabelle shrugged and followed Lily to go answer it. When Lily opened the door, her jaw dropped.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

A/n: HEE HEEE HEE!! Oh my gosh, that was an AWESOME cliffhanger!!!! Please review if you want to find out who it is and why he or she is here. This chunk will only be a two chapter one…review soon!

TTYL,

Husker-fan-2006

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