Jily oneshots

Legacy

by Lady Radcliffe

Chapter One

She was late. Late. She couldn't believe it herself. She had fallen asleep in her new bedroom, exhausted from the tears, and woken up to find that not only was everyone already up and about, but that she had her first advisor's meeting. In ten minutes.

In a frenzy of flying robes and shoes, Lily Evans - slim, red-headed and striking - was dressed and starving. Flying down the corridors, trying not to bump into other people, Lily got lost a few times trying to find the meeting room. Bloody hell, how big is this place? It was nearly impossible to figure out if this was the way that had been shown to her during a tour of the palace. Oh Lord! I'm going to be late! Her stomach was grumbling in protest now. Not only had she skipped dinner the night before, breakfast had been forgotten today. Lily ignored her body. Is that the door at the end of the hall? It certainly looked like it. Making a mad dash for it, she missed the dark blurry figure that had the same thoughts as she did. They smashed into each other with such a colossal force that Lily felt sure that everyone had heard the bang they created. Lying on the floor, stunned and dazed, Lily was shaking her head, trying to clear it of the pending headache that would come once she was steady enough to stand on her own feet. That man, she thought, blinking rapidly. He looks so familiar. And with a loud gasp and a wave of darkness, Lily Evans felt as if the world really was against her.

Her eyelids felt heavy, as though they had hippogriffs standing on them. Lifting open heavy lids, Lily tried to understand why she was lying down, why people were chattering all around her and why something that smelled horrible was being held by her nose. Ugh, smelling salts. Struggling to sit up, a silence suddenly met her ears. Looking around blankly, she saw the faces of none other than the members of the advisory council. The one she was late to.
Perhaps Albus Dumbledore, the head advisor, noticed the ashy tone her skin had taken on again, or maybe he felt sorry for the bewildered girl who was not having the best of days, but he spoke up in that soft, yet commanding, voice of his. "Miss, Evans, you gave us quite a shock there. We were hardly expecting you to be able to remove yourself from bed after such a tragedy and then we find you lying on the floor in front of the door in a dead faint." His voice held traces of laughter, but none of the derision she was expecting.

"I woke up late and was in a rush. I wasn't looking where I was running and I remember a crash. Then black." Lily still felt groggy, like she had woken from a long nap. A new face appeared in the crowd. She gasped again and in a teasing tone, full of good-nature though, this new character remarked, "Now Miss Evans, those smelling salts are not pleasant things. Do try to hold onto your consciousness."

The new man looked as though he wanted to laugh. His eyes were smiling, twinkling in the bright light cast from a chandelier above. His arms were crossed loosely across his chest and his robes were made of the finest cloth money could buy. This was the man she had run into.

And he happened to be the king.

"Oh, Your Highness, I'm so sorry! I never should have been running like that. Oh, please forgive me, Your Highness!" Lily's mind was already running through all of the possibilities: being sent away on her first day, jeered at by the people who didn't think she could do it, having no home to return to. She didn't think she could bear it.

He waved off her apologies. "Nonsense. You will return immediately to your rooms to mourn. Arrangements can be made if you require. You will receive your meals there as well. You may come to a meeting once you are feeling better and have gotten some decent food in your body. Actually, don't come until the healer Lord Randall has seen to you first. We can't have our first female advisor falling ill, now can we? Imagine all the tongues that would wag." He gave a little sympathetic smile and walked away.