The Infinite Theatre

"They're really good," James coaxed, using a baby voice that he apparently thought was alluring.

"No thanks."

"C'mon, I cooked them myself!"

"No, that's quite all right."

"Please eat them?"

"No, thank-you."

"Eat them."

"No!"

"EAT THEM!!"

"NO!"

"They're really good," James coaxed, using a baby voice that he apparently thought was alluring.

"James, you've tried that before," Lily reminded him, pushing her plate of eggs away and sitting upright in bed.

"C'mon, I cooked them myself!" James whined again. " I make you breakfast in bed and I only ate a little of it, and suddenly you don' t want it! You're always saying I should do spontaneously romantic things for you!"

"And you should," Lily said, smoothing the wrinkles from the covers, "just not right after I bombed a audition."

"For the last time, you did not bomb your audition!"

"I did too!" Lily cried, flopping backwards again onto her pillow.

"Lily, I'm sure you're overreacting. You're good at everything you do! Bombing isn't in your vocabulary. It's in hell, along with the words 'failure' and 'zero'."

Lily groaned and moved closer to James, who had crawled back in bed after relenting on breakfast.

"At least we'll see the callbacks list tomorrow, and you can stop stressing."

"Yeah, I think we're all thinking that."

James let out a yell and bolted up in bed, revealing Sirius, who had somehow managed to climb into bed beside him.

"God, Sirius, have you ever heard of a little something called 'crossing the line'?" Lily asked angrily, launching quickly out of bed and pulling a robe on over her less-than conservative nightgown.

"You might have mentioned that once or twice, but I can't remember when," Sirius said thoughtfully, settling himself comfortably underneath their blankets. "Wow, this bed is really roomy! Is this a feather-down mattress? I could sleep here every night!"

"No you couldn't, and let's see, was it maybe the time you handed me a towel as I was getting out of the shower-"

"Oh come on, it's not like you were in there alone in the first place," Sirius replied, giving James a roguish wink.

"-Or was it after you told my parents that I was playing both you and James," she continued angrily, tying her robe, "and that I was secretly planning to marry you and live off James' money?"

Sirius shrugged casually.

"Could've been both times," he offered helpfully.

"Get out!" Lily burst out in frustration, throwing a pillow at Sirius.

Sirius caught the pillow and threw it back with a girlish giggle.

"Pillow fight!"

Lily dodged the flying pillow and looked expectantly at James.

"Do something!" she ordered.

James looked from his angry wife to his best friend and sighed.

"No Sirius. No pillow fight."

Sirius looked up at James with a confused expression.

"No pillow fight?" he asked in a small voice.

"No. No pillow fight. Sorry, Padfoot."

Lily smiled happily.

"Thank you James. Now, I'm going for a shower, and when I get back, I'd like Sirius to at least be out of our room. OK?"

James and Sirius nodded mutely, and, feeling content, Lily headed off to the bathroom.

They waited until they heard the water running before starting.

"What the hell was that Prongs?"

"I'm sorry, just-"

"Are you completely whipped or what?"

"-she's been really weird lately since the audition-"

"You know, in a way, you just chose between your best friend and your wife!"

"- and I thought you'd understand."

"Well I do understand! I understand perfectly! Lily's running your life and little things that bother her are all of a sudden bothering you!" Sirius aid this with a devastated air, flinging his hands in the air sadly and touching his brow with the back of his hand.

"I'm sorry, Little Mr. Drama Queen, but when you think about it, climbing into bed with us unannounced is sort of crossing a line," James snapped. "There are certain things that are called private. I mean, what if we started-"

"OK, OK! Please don't finish that sentence. Imagine you procreating!"

"At least I'm not shooting blanks, like some people."

"Anyway, I'll stop trying so hard to cross the line. And next time, I'll make sure I'm telling you that I'm climbing into bed with you, so it's definitely announced.

"I appreciate it."

There was a silence for a few moments, then-

"You know, Lily forgot a towel... we should maybe-"

"We've got towels in there, Sirius."

Sirius grinned and reached behind the bed, extracting a large pile of bath towels.

"Not anymore..."

***

"It looks like she's having convulsions," Remus commented quietly to James.

They were in the Lion's Den, in their usual corner booth, sipping on coffee.

Sirius had insisted that after they went and saw the callback list which, strangely enough included all five of them, they go to the Lion's Den for drinks.

Of course, he was the only one with a whisky.

Lily, who couldn't believe she had made it onto the list, was trembling slightly and staring across the room out of the window. There was a cup of tea in her hand, but it was slightly unbalanced and was on the verge of dripping onto the sheet of music she had been given for the callback.

"Lily?" James said, gently taking the cup from her hand and setting it on the table.

"Lily, talk to me."

"Wha?" Lily said, tearing her eyes away from the window and looking at him.

"Are you OK? I mean, you got on the list, right? That is what you wanted, right?"

Mutely, Lily nodded.

"Yeah.. I mean, yes, I think so. But... I mean, it's not exactly over for me now, is it?"

"Don't worry Lily," Sirius said, waving the waitress over for another glass, "this means that we'll have to suffer along with you."

Lily ignored him.

***
"Honestly, Lily, I don't think they're going to care what you're wearing. They're not interested in your fashion sense," James said as she modeled her third outfit in front of their magical mirror.

"That's where you're wrong," Lily replied, tugging nervously at a shirt she'd selected to go underneath her robes, "because casting agents see a mirror image of yourself in the way you dress. If you're dressed in neat, ironed robes with designer tags on them, they see you're well-dressed, meaning that you take pride in your appearance and possibly everything else you do. Dress in rags and they'll think you're lazy and not worth the time they'll be spending on you in future."

James exchanged 'she's been like this all week' glances with his reflection, and, after reflecting to himself that he was becoming more and more like Sirius, who probably had conversations with his reflection on a daily basis, gently took Lily's hand.

"Well, you're wearing your best robes, and a designer shirt from Madam Malkin's. I think you're pretty safe."

"But-"

"They'll be more concerned with your punctuality, seeing as that directly affects your placement in their cast," James pressed urgently, tugging on her other hand.

Lily changed three more times before they left.

***

"Welcome! Please sit inside the theater! We're having a little meet and greet before we begin. Welcome! Take a seat inside, and we'll do a little opening before we get going! Welcome!"

Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter endured five minutes of this while standing outside, waiting in the line of people moving slowly inside the theater. It was a slow moving line because Lawrence Swiggley had taken it upon himself to greet every single person who had made the callback, was attending the Big Wizards meeting upstairs, or was walking by for a totally unrelated reason.

As they reached the front of the que, James and Sirius began playing a game to take their minds off the early Spring chill: "Chance a Glance."

It was a favorite of theirs, made up for this exact purpose, and most often played when bored, or when a particularly hideous/ridiculous person was in sight.

The rules were to stare at the person/people for as long as one could without laughing or, in a hideous case, retching.

"You first," Sirius whispered, prodding James in the back.

James, oblivious to Lily's exasperated sigh, peeked around Remus and set his gaze upon Swiggley.

Today he was dressed to contrast the very gray day, in a pair of tangerine (not orange, not yellow-orange, tangerine) trousers with light yellow suspenders showing from underneath his matching tangerine jacket. They were over top a tomato red shirt, complete with tiny, detailed tomato-shaped buttons that smiled widely as he greeted each person.

He was also wearing another cravat, a very avid shade of sea-green, tied smartly underneath the collar of his shirt.

He wore a top hat today, the same colour as his cravat, and boots the colour of his shirt.

James choked down a laugh at this ridiculous get up, noting inwardly that he had left the green-blue cape and silver star hat at home today.

Then he noticed something rather odd.

Swiggley's previously orange curls were now a striking blonde, straight as a wand and pulled into a neat ponytail behind his head with a sea-green hair ribbon.

Another thing James noticed was his eyes. The formerly blue eyes were now a green that rivaled Lily's in their vivacity, and they blinked rapidly as he greeted people with ardor.

His bulbous nose was still as imposing as ever, though it wasn't needed in assisting James' revelation.

"Lil," he whispered, "Swiggley-"

"I don't want to hear it James," Lily muttered back, cutting him off, "he's a perfectly nice man regardless of what he's wearing."

"No, but-"

"Honestly, can't you go five minutes without making fun of someone?"

"Would you-"

"Welcome!" Swiggley said loudly, his shrill and eccentric voice grating itself across James' brain and making Sirius shudder beside him.

"Ms. Evans! Looking stunning today, as usual," he added with a wink while pumping her hand enthusiastically.

"And I don't recall meeting..."

"Potter. James Potter. Lily's fiancee." James said cuttingly, butting between Swiggley and Lily to take his handshake.

"Ah! Mr. Potter, now I remember! Quite an impressive audition, you know! Of course, that's why you're here! That's why everyone who is here is here unless, of course, they are on the casting committee."

He finished this with a very shrill chortle that again caused Sirius to shudder, though this time it backfired and attracted attention.

"Mr. Black! I remember you! Once we convinced you why you were there and not at home sleeping you sang a magnificent audition. I believe you were all students at Albus' school? He may have mentioned something. I'm so glad you've all come!"

"Are you kidding Mr. Swiggley?" Lily said warmly. "Why wouldn't we come?"

"Well, to be honest, there were a few that didn't reply directly when I owled them to ensure their attendance," Swiggley said seriously, though failing to shake himself of his very erratic voice and pitch. "It seems they were concerned with the purity of the cast, you know what I mean, Ms. Evans, you're Muggle-born, and of course, Mr. Lupin-"

"You know- what?" Sirius spluttered, surprised and shocked out of his midday hallucination of a very naked, very cold bar maid from the Lion's Den replacing Swiggley.

"About Mr. Lupin's ailment? Of course. He didn't hesitate to share it with us before he auditioned. Of course, we'll have to make some adjustments to the schedule, but it shouldn't be to much of a problem. Anyway, please make yourself comfortable inside, we'll be having a meet and greet before proceeding with the callbacks."

"You told him you were a werewolf?" James asked incredulously as they found seats in the theater, this time opting for the back.

"I had to James, Dumbledore was on the crew. Plus, it's a responsibility that comes with committing to a project like this."

"Merlin, can that guy be anymore of a queer?" Sirius asked conversationally. Then, without waiting for an answer, he cried out, "Holy shit! Snape's back!"

Lily grabbed Sirius by the neck of the robes and pulled him backwards. "You were drunk at the auditions?" she hissed.

"May-be," Sirius replied coyly.

"I can't believe you!"

"Snape's here?" James asked with interest.

Sure enough, Severus Snape was sitting, again by himself, near the front of the theater. He was staring straight ahead, and seemed to be rather nervous.

"Hey Snivellus!" Sirius called joyfully. "You here for your G.H. meeting?"

When Snape didn't turn around, Peter asked "G.H.?"

"Greasy hair," Sirius replied before assuming a confused face. "Merlin, that was weak."

"You're lucky he didn't hear you," James said affirmatively.

"You're drunk now, aren't you?" Lily asked wearily.

"May-be," Sirius replied coyly.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Swiggley said, entering from the back of the theater.

"Oh, would you please move up to the front?" he directed to the five, "the theater isn't nearly as full this time."

Reluctantly they shuffled to the front, having already gotten comfortable, and settled back into seats.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen," Swiggley resumed, continuing to waltz down the aisle, "to the Les Miserables callbacks. I assume you know that the purpose for callbacks is to assert who will be getting lead roles, as well as solo parts in the chorus. We have asked you back here because you showed promise at your auditions, and we were pleased with your sign-up sheets. The protocol today will be alphabetical, men and women mixed, and they will be done here on the stage."

"What? In front of everyone?" Peter spluttered, then going red for speaking out.

"Why, of course!" Swiggley replied joyfully, clapping his hands in a quick way that made Sirius wanting to snap someone's neck.

"You have already made it into the play by making callbacks; you should really be used to singing in front of an audience."

It made sense to Lily, though she couldn't seem to shake the sick, clenching feeling in her stomach.

"The judges will be seated at the back, and the lights will be on full to give you motivation! Afterward, kindly take a seat and continue to watch the others, then we'll all take leave together once the entire process is through."

"We can 'take leave together,' but I sure as hell am not going home with him, even if he does buy the first drink," Sirius muttered sideways to Remus, who snorted in spite of himself.

"The cast list will be posted in another week, as I can see that with the amount of talent here tonight, the judges and I will have our work cut out for us!" He laughed again, a shrill giggle that could under other circumstances be taken as a nervous laugh, if it hadn't been him.

"Now, skitter scatter, let's get at'er!" he cried happily, clapping his hands again and causing Sirius to jolt threateningly. A vein of frustration pumped furiously in his neck.

Swiggley bounded off the stage, waved his wand at the lights above and hurried to the back of the room to sit with a table of judges.

The room darkened and the stage lights came on, falling terrifyingly to illuminate the stage.

Then, Swiggley's voice, obviously magnified through a spell, called:

"Penny Artichoke."

From somewhere near the midsection of the theater, a rather large woman apparated center stage with a sound like a whip cracking.

"Oh, oh!" Swiggley said anxiously, "please walk up from now on, it's tradition!"

"I'll tradition him," Sirius growled.

"Shut up!" Lily whispered.

"I'll shut up you," Sirius growled.

James punched Sirius' shoulder.

"I'll punch you," Sirius growled.

Remus sighed.

"I'll-"

"No problem, Lawrence," Penny Artichoke said, waving her hand dismissively. "When do I start?"

She was a large, confident looking woman, with thick blonde hair and a wide smile. Her voice was loud and clear, with a hint of rashness.

"Whenever you feel comfortable. The music will begin as soon as you do," Swiggley replied.

Penny took a large swooping breath and began:

"There's a grief that can't be spoken,

There's a pain, goes on and on,

Empty chair at empty tables,

Now my friends are dead and gone.

Here they talked of revolution,

Here it was they lit the flame,

Here they sang about tomorrow,

And tomorrow, never came.

From the table in the corner, they could see a world reborn

And they rose with voices ringing,

And I can hear them now!

The very words that they had sung

Became their last communion.

On a lonely barricade,

At dawn..."

Penny finished; only half the song was required, and stepped down to her seat.

"-Sigh you," Sirius continued, growling.

"Wow," Lily sighed.

"She has a loud voice," James said approvingly.

"It's probably meant for operetta," Remus said.

"Bellatrix Black," Swiggley's voice said again after a few moments.

"G-wha?" Sirius gasped, sitting straight up. "I didn't see her at the auditions!"

"What does she think she's doing?" James growled. Like Sirius, he had a reasonable feeling of contempt for the Black family.

Bellatrix Black climbed the stairs to the stage in loud heels, turned then smiled maliciously at Sirius, who gaped at her from the front row.

"She's here for Mother," Sirius muttered bitterly. "No doubt she wants to see what I'm up to."

"Come on," James said unconvincingly, "she might just be here to audition, and the scary way she looked at you was just a horrible, horrible coincidence."

"Let's hope so," Sirius replied.

Bellatrix sang the song, and had an agreeable enough voice in terms of character. Lily knew she wasn't a threat, to which she was very glad; losing her dream role to Bellatrix Black would have been unbearable.

She descended down the stairs, pausing only to hiss to Sirius, "why cousin! fancy meeting you here! Your mother was asking about you; it seems you've caused such a ruckus since your untimely leave of absence. Though, I suppose it's all for the better. You never were very propitious in our family. Your mother agrees."

Sirius jerked angrily and turned to James.

"It's always amusing when dirty, undereducated whores repeat words they don't understand, especially when they're speaking for those who are too wrapped up in their pointless 'hating of everything' to do it themselves."

He spoke this bitterly, with venom, and Bellatrix clenched her fists tightly.

"Oh, I quite agree," James replied jovially, slipping an arm around Lily's shoulders, "it's rather like listening to a parrot that's been beaten with an ugly stick, isn't it?"

"Listen here, blood traitors-" Bellatrix began, though she was cut off by Swiggley's "Sirius Black."

Sirius rose, eyeing Bellatrix warily, who turned haughtily and marched down the aisle, ignoring Swiggley's protests as she left the theater.

He took center stage and hardly blinked as the lights beamed down on him.

It was the first time Lily had ever heard him sing with any ounce of effort. His voice was strong and clear, and gave an incredible impression of anger, which, Lily figured, was triggered by his feelings from the moments before.

His harnessed aggression gave the song a good ounce of character, and though Lily noted he could have taken it slower, it was amazing.

James thumped Sirius' back as he threw himself into his seat again, not even looking winded. A muscle was working in his jaw, and Lily knew he was still thinking of Bellatrix.

Amelia Bones, Eric Braque, Gareth Corner, George Croaker, Catherine Crouch, Amos Diggory, Antonin Dolohov went next, Amos Diggory not to the surprise of many, as he was widely known as a very applied person.

"Lily Evans"

Lily froze up. James squeezed her shoulders supportively before withdrawing. Lily certainly hadn't been expecting her name next, and she felt herself standing, though she wasn't sure how.

Lily also became aware that she was walking, climbing stairs, and blinking back blinding lights.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. The silence was frightening. Lily swallowed hard and tried again.

"It wasn't so bad," James said as Lily sunk back into her seat and huddled her knees to her chest. "You have a really pretty voice-"

"Can it," Lily snapped, her lip trembling.

She didn't even hear who was called next, though James told her later that Arabella Figg and Cornelius Fudge had stepped up to sing, among others.

She wasn't snapped out of her reverie of failure until she heard the name Rubeus Hagrid.

Hagrid looked even larger under the lights, and strikingly nervous.

"Er, I'm er, not very good at these kind 'o things," he mumbled incoherently, shuffling his feet. "I can go at any time? Er, a'right then."

Hagrid's usually gruff and muffled voice, full of verbal abbreviations and 'er's', was somehow miraculously transformed into something totally unexpected, and made everyone in the theater sit up and take notice. There was something soft, yet strong about it, perfectly controlled and came straight from the diaphragm.

Lily's mouth dropped open, and she stared with not only her eyes but her ears also, finding it impossible to tear her attention away for even a second to exchange looks of amazement with James.

When Hagrid finished, Lily found herself clapping loudly with mostly everyone in the cast, along with whistling with Sirius.

Rolanda Hooch was next, displaying a strangely scratchy yet intriguing voice that Lily inwardly thought would be perfect for a whore, half because she though it was true, and half because she didn't want to think the voice was fitting enough for her own coveted role.

A man by the name of Gregory Kickle, who Lily didn't know, was after Hagrid, and Remus was called up next.

e sounded timid, which wasn't good for him, especially because he had such a soft voice to begin with, and it had a good range. Still, Lily knew in her heart and trained ear that it was nothing to someone like Sirius or Hagrid, who, as well as a select few of other men so far that night, had blown the audience away.

Walden MacNair surprised many people by even making a callback, though the judges must have known what they were doing, despite his strange, harsh voice that obviously came from the chest.

The person Lily was anxious to hear was the one who was next. Narcissi Malfoy stepped smugly up to the stage, her head high and a self-indulgent smile on her face.

Lily felt her heart sink as she was forced to listen to Narcissi's clear, crisp voice. Everything, from her warble to her perfect pitch made Lily dig her nails into James' arm with anxiety.

When Narcissi stepped down, she slowed her walk passed Lily only long enough to smirk with "nice try though, Mudblood."

Lily didn't even notice. She was still lost in the warble.

Lucius Malfoy was called next, and delivered a very mediocre performance, as his voice had an unpleasant, reedy sound to it. He was on tune however, and hit every note.

"Probably a voice-enhancement charm," James muttered sideways to Lily.

"Nope," she whispered back, "tone-deaf removal potion. It tunes the brain to recognize notes and tune."

James gave Lily a strange look before turning back to Malfoy, who was just finishing up.

Lucius descended the stairs and passed Lily, glancing down mockingly at James.

James ignored it.

Frank Longbottom was next, and James waved with his friends as Frank climbed to the stage.

He was someone who worried Lily, not because of herself, but because she knew James had the potential for a large role, and that Frank was a potential rival, despite their friendly acquaintance.

And Frank was very good, with a strong and determined voice. He finished and climbed down, looking as modest and nervous as anyone.

"Minerva McGonagall," Swiggley read, his voice echoing throughout the theater.

"McGonagall?" Sirius repeated, looking at Remus with a bewildered stare before craning to look and confirm it was indeed, the McGonagall he was thinking of.

It was, and McGonagall sang with a voice as crisp and clean as her voice, though unfortunately, with the same amount of severity and harshness as well, which took away from her performance.

Several more people surprised them, such as the wand maker, Ollivander, who had a wheezy, loud voice that Lily didn't know what to think of.

Peter was next, and trembled terribly as he squeaked out his notes. Lily thought, to be fair, that he did considerably well for him, as Peter usually fell apart when forced to perform in front of people.

"James Potter."

James grinned at Lily's encouraging hand squeeze, and she could tell he wasn't nervous in the slightest.

She wasn't surprised.

James, of course, Lily thought with affectionate sarcasm, was great.

He was always great. It sometimes astounded her how perfect he could appear at times, even though she knew better than anyone how untrue it was.

He finished to polite applause and returned to his seat, grinning broadly.

You'd have thought he'd be used to succeeding by now, but he still got as excited as a small child whenever he did something well.

"How was it?" he asked Lily.

"It was amazing," Lily replied, wishing she could have said the same for her own audition.

It hadn't started out too bad, she thought to herself, but the damn higher notes were so impossible, and she had been so nervous! There really had been nothing left to do but freak out as she had done and speed up past the music, finish before the score and hurry to her seat with her head buried in her hands.

Quirenius Quirrell, a Hufflepuff from Lily and James' year had also made callbacks, though Lily didn't recall noticing him at auditions.

He had always been very ambitious, fascinated in dark creatures and spells, though never so much as to be considered 'creepy.'

Lily wasn't surprised he was there. He always seemed to be involved in everything.

A girl named Jane Shawte came next, and both James and Sirius exchanged glances.

Lily leaned near to James' ear. "Isn't she the girl you went out with in our fifth year?" she whispered curiously.

Shawte had been a Gryffindor, and a sixth year to James and Lily. She'd been the Seeker for the team, and James had seen her through till their O.W.L.'s.

Jane seemed just as slim, blonde and pretty as she had in Hogwarts, and Lily noticed with amusement that James couldn't tear his eyes away. Neither could Remus, Peter or, unsurprisingly, Sirius.

When Shawte finished, she hurried off the stage.

She was replaced, one by one, with Sandra Sinistra, then, to Sirius' malicious delight, Severus Snape.

He stepped on-stage with a quiet, determined disposition, and ignored the coughing sounds made by a supportive Sirius.

Then he opened his mouth and made Lily's blood run cold.

"That must have been a potion," James muttered frantically to console a speechless Sirius.

But there was no denying it, Lily thought as Timmy Sparks, Ponoma Sprout and John Sykes did their turns.

Snape had a talent that had undoubtedly been hidden from the outside world for years.

"Dolores Umbridge."

A woman who Lily recalled had been a fourth year Slytherin in their first waltzed by primly and stood center stage.

"Yikes," James muttered.

"Woof," Remus agreed.

"Bring back Snape anytime now," said Sirius.

She had mousy brown hair that reached her shoulders but was very thin. On her head perched a small, pink hat and pin, which matched her frilly pale pink robes.

She looked sixty, if it weren't for her hair colour.

She was also very short, and though not fat, had more weight than a woman with presumably no children would be expected to have.

She smiled widely and Lily was distinctly reminded of a very pink toad she'd once seen in a Muggle comic when she was small.

However, her voice, as sugary sweet as Lily could recall from the few times she'd met her, was a very high Soprano, and was equipped with an incredible vibrato in it, and Lily could also see why she had been called back.

Emmeline Vance, a Ravenclaw Sirius had gone out with once or twice from their year was next, followed by Marsha Vector, another Ravenclaw and, again unsurprisingly, an old fling of Sirius'.

When they finished up Arthur Weasley stepped up. Lily didn't know them as well as she would have liked, but through others she'd heard good things, and resolved to make friends with them if she wasn't cut from the cast.

Weasley was good, even James admitted it, though they wondered if he had sung with such a nasally voice on purpose.

Molly Weasley came after, and blew them all away with a voice much larger than her frame. (A/N: Molly isn't 'dumpy' yet, as she'd only had two kids.)

Even Lily found herself hoping that Molly landed a good role; her voice was not one to be wasted.

Zachary Zair wrapped up the callbacks, and Lawrence Swiggley closed by telling them owls would be sent when the cast list was posted.

Lily grabbed her cloak and led the others out onto the street.

"Mrs. Weasley?" she called anxiously, catching up with the Weasley's and grabbing Molly's arm.

Molly turned around, and smiled. "Yes, dear?"

Close up, Lily realized that she must have been quite a few, perhaps six years, older than Lily.

"I just wanted to say how wonderfully you did," Lily said, slightly breathless.

"Oh, well thank-you," Molly Weasley said graciously, smiling. "I was a bit of voice when I was younger."

Lily frowned. "Surely you aren't referring to yourself as old?"

Molly laughed. "Oh, Merlin, no. Why, my boys are only seven and five. Oh, speaking of them, we've only an hour for lunch before Bill has to come back here for his own Gavroche callback. So, if you'll-"

"Oh, of course!" Lily said hurrying aside.

Molly turned as she attempted to catch up with her family. "Oh, and dear?"

"Lily," Lily corrected.

"Lily," Molly repeated warmly, "you were just as wonderful."

Lily smiled again as James pulled her gently away.

"C'mon," he said, leading her from the crowd, "Sirius just said that if he doesn't have a whisky in his hand soon he's going to start swinging."

Lily rolled her eyes. but couldn't wipe the self-indulgent smile off her face.

What Molly Weasley had said meant a lot; now all she had to do was see if she was right or not.