A Second Chance

I hope you enjoy it.

This chapter is dedicated to my sister Nicola as she is always there for me when I need her to be.


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Chapter 1

The diamond wall of Gringotts was the first thing Lily Potter saw when she opened her eyes. The wizard bank was looming menacingly over her head. The sign over the window proclaimed the bank closed and Diagon Alley was deserted. A second later Lily noticed the tell tale darkness, which said that it was the middle of the night. What am I doing here? Where are James and Harry? Where’s Voldemort? That last question sent shivers down Lily’s spine; Voldemort had been after her. Actually he had been after James, Harry; well he had gotten mixed in along the way. Lily remembered how just a few minutes ago Voldemort killed James in front of her. The painful memory brought tears to her eyes, tears which continued to flow when as Lily thought of her son. Where is he? Did I just abandon him? Is he alive? That was the last question Lily was able to think of before she slipped back into unconsciousness, is he alive?

     Tom locked the door at the Leaky Cauldron. He cast a spell causing the sign outside to display close. He was about to turn in for the night when he glanced outside. There was a woman outside of Gringotts. Tom unlocked the door and headed outside. He crouched over the still form and checked that she was breathing. Luckily she was and Tom also managed to find a pulse in her neck. Her condition was obviously a lot better than her looks hinted at. He conjured a stretcher upon which he put her limp body. Carefully he took her to one of the two spare rooms inside the pub and laid her to bed. He would call a doctor first thing in the morning.

     Lily blinked her eyes open. The room around her was homely but unfamiliar. She had no idea how she had arrived here. Lily briefly entertained the idea that this was connected to her appearance outside Gringotts.

     Lifting her head from the pillow beneath her Lily looked out of the window. Her body protested this simple action by sending a sharp pain shooting down her back. Lily groaned and allowed herself to lie down again. She had seen what she needed to; the clear view of Diagon Alley her window offered. After that Lily realised almost immediately she must be inside the Leaky Cauldron.

     As comfortable as it was Lily didn’t want to be inside the Leaky Cauldron. Lily still wanted the answers to her questions from what she assumed to be the previous night.

     Ignoring the pain she felt all over Lily forced herself to rise from the bed. The mirror over the mantle showed Lily some of her injuries and offered a slight tut as she stared at her reflection. Her bottom lip was swollen and her eye bruised. Lily searched the pocket of her robes for her wand and smiled as she felt her fingers clasp the familiar piece of willow. Drawing the wand out of her pocket Lily racked her brain for all the healing spells she knew. It turned out not to be many and Lily was forced into casting an appearance charm over herself to hide the unsightly wounds. Lily reasoned with herself that they needed to be hidden if she was to escape unquestioned. It still hurt though and Lily was torn about whether or not she should get medical help. She couldn’t, she had to find her answers first.

     Lily walked down the stairs but was stopped as the barman’s voice questioned, "Where do you think you’re going?"

     "Home," Lily answered abruptly.

     "Where’s that then?" Tom asked as he blocked the exit.

     Lily paused uncomfortably. People had already begun to ask her simple questions, which she couldn’t answer. How could she know what had happened their house in Godric’s Hollow? She didn’t even know if the area were still standing. It was best to lie. "Little Whinging, a Muggle town in Surrey." It wasn’t a complete lie, she had lived there once.

     "You’re a bit far from home aren’t you?" Tom asked. Lily could predict his next question before he asked it. "What are you doing round here?"

     Lily hoped Tom wouldn’t notice the despair in her eyes; she had never been one for lying not convincingly anyway. That had been James’ job. She smiled at the many memories she held of her husband ‘twisting the truth’. The pain returned with the memory of James’ lifeless body falling to the ground. "You OK?" Tom’s voice broke through the memory.

     "Sure just have a headache. I guess my friends and I went a little overboard last night," Lily replied surprised by how genuine she sounded.

     Tom nodded with a slight look of apprehension on his face. Without waiting for any more questions Lily opened the door that led to the bustle of Diagon Alley.

     Lily was completely confused as to what to do next; she couldn’t just walk up to random people and start asking them questions, could she? In search of a familiar place Lily entered Flourish and Blotts and there she saw what she was looking for. A single copy of the Daily Prophet lay open on the table. It could tell her some of what she needed to know. The date in the corner was the first place her eyes focused on. Lily read with astonishment that it was fourteen years since the last thing she remembered, since the attack on their house, she finally was certain she couldn’t ask anyone questions now, no one would remember that long ago. Glancing at the front page she noticed the two stories which dominated it. The first was about a boy named Cedric Diggory appearing out of nowhere. The second was about Voldemort himself. All this time and he’s still in power Lily thought privately amazed that no one had stopped him. Surely someone would have been able to do it. Lily spent more time reading this story. Voldemort had attacked a group of Muggles just yesterday, in doing so he had revealed that his present location was in the south of France.

     "Can I help you Miss?" a friendly looking saleswoman asked Lily.

     "No thank you I have to get going," Lily replied absentmindedly placing down the copy of the paper. She was going to get going as well. She was going to Hogwarts.

     After passing through the Leaky Cauldron into Muggle London Lily headed straight for Kings Cross. Instinctively checking no one was watching she headed through the solid wall and onto Platform 9 and ¾. Silently boarding the train Lily wondered what she was going to say to Dumbledore once she arrived at Hogwarts.

     Meanwhile at Hogwarts a meeting was underway. It was one of the first meetings of the Order of the Phoenix in fourteen years. The Order of the Phoenix was a group of witches and wizards who were trying to think of a way to stop Voldemort. At the present moment in time Mundungus Fletcher, Arabella Figg, Severus Snape and Sirius Black were having a heated debate over why Cedric Diggory had reappeared healthy and well just three days ago. Black and Snape were about to have a fist fight over the issue when Dumbledore called order to the meeting for the fifth time that hour.

     "No one knows for sure why what happened with Mr Diggory happened therefore there isn't any point in you fighting as it will not prove anything," Dumbledore stated calmly,

     "Now we must end this meeting as Minerva and Severus both have classes to teach and it is nearly time for the students to have lunch, something which will be nearly impossible considering the Great Hall’s current condition. You are however all welcome to stay in the castle, overnight or for lunch, if you wish. Thank you everyone." Everyone rose and some began to leave. The few who remained did so to have private words with Hogwarts’ headmaster. They did not notice when the huge doors swung open revealing the red headed woman in search of a familiar place.

     The minute Lily arrived at Hogwarts she headed straight for the Great Hall; she knew the way to Dumbledore’s office from there. She paid no attention to the fact she would need a password to access her former headmasters’ office. She was dripping with rain from a heavy storm outside, her whole body ached and she was shivering from the cold but she had to find Dumbledore. She could count on him to know what had happened at her house. She and James had been close enough for him to care. No matter how long Lily had known the headmaster Lily still couldn’t believe he was capable of missing anything of any importance.

     Slowly she entered the Great Hall. She saw several people standing around, some of whom she recognised even though they had aged slightly. She saw Dumbledore talking to Remus and Sirius. She let out a huge sigh of relief. Lily felt comforted and more relaxed than she had all day just because she could see people she was familiar with. She broke into a pained run towards Sirius, Remus and Dumbledore. Before they had even seen her she had wrapped her arms around Sirius and Remus’ necks in a hug. The pressure of the events and uncertainty was too much. Lily began to sob uncontrollably.

     Dumbledore, Sirius and Remus digested the information slowly. All three easily recalled the red head with no difficulty. Sirius and Remus just stared at the redheaded woman around their necks before slowly hugging her hugging her back. They were treating her as though she would just disappear any minute and neither of them wanted to say anything as they couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Lily therefore was the first to speak. Releasing her friends she turned to Sirius and asked one question. The question which had been on her mind the most, "What happened to Harry?" Sirius was about to answer and reassure her that her son was not only fine but was upstairs in Gryffindor common room when Lily collapsed into Remus’ arms.

     "We’d better get her to the hospital wing," Remus said, his face showing the disbelief at what was happening. Dumbledore nodded and levitated Lily onto a stretcher. Sirius transformed into his dog form and headed off in front of the trio. He started to head towards Gryffindor tower but Remus stopped him saying, "Later, when she’s awake," with a worried glance at the stretcher carrying his friend’s body he added, "and we know she’s OK." Sirius nodded and sedately followed Remus.

     Dumbledore walked into the hospital ward Madam Pomfrey was tending to a large amount of students, many of whom were Ravenclaws who had caught a strange infectious disease which gave them purple and pink spots when Professor Dumbledore entered. "Ah, Poppy we need you to come and see a new patient urgently but it needs to be a private room," Dumbledore said with a small trace of urgency creeping into his usually calm voice. Madam Pomfrey left the ailing Ravenclaws and went into a small room next door and motioned for Dumbledore to go round.

     Dumbledore entered the room with Lily in tow followed by Remus and Sirius. Madam Pomfrey gasped in shock, she obviously remembered Lily from her Hogwarts’ days. After all she had visited James often enough with one of his Quidditch injuries. "It can’t be Lily Evans," Madam Pomfrey said, to herself more than anyone else.

     "Potter," Lily’s weak voice croaked, "Lily Potter."

     "You’re awake," Sirius said rushing over to Lily’s bedside.

     "Yeah, but I still feel awful," she replied holding her hand to her head. "Don’t suppose you’ve got any aspirin?" she said laughing to herself and smiling outwardly when Sirius and Remus returned almost identical confused looks. She quickly explained, "Headache tablets, it’s a Muggle thing."

     Silence followed as Madam Pomfrey busied about checking Lily over. "She’s not in bad health, and she just needs a good night of undisturbed sleep. Which is something I suggest she starts right now," Madam Pomfrey stated pointedly starting to force the three men out of the door when Lily told her not to.

     "Please don’t, I have to talk to them now, there’s too much to wait until morning. I’ll never be able to sleep otherwise," Lily said in a tone of voice which although quiet made the pleading words sound as though it wouldn’t be up for discussion.

     "I have to get going Lily, dinner is about to start and I need to speak with the students. About unrelated matters I might add. Mr Black and Mr Lupin will be able to answer many of your questions as well as, if not better than, I could. I will return as soon as I am able," Dumbledore said, then turning to Madam Pomfrey, “If as you say Lily is in good health allow her to speak with these two and only these two. She does need to understand what is happening now, but perhaps more importantly what has happened in the past fourteen years." Madam Pomfrey nodded and left the room with Dumbledore.