I know it would make more sense for Harry to be Cosette, but then I wouldn't have anyone to be Eponine. So, for the purpose of this story, Harry and Lily are not related. James is not Lily's lover, and for the purpose of the story, the Malfoys have two children. Okay, on with the story.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Les Miserables.
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10 years later
It was the end of the day. At the end of the day, the factory-workers liked to chat before going home. Lily was holding a letter, and went into a corner to read it. As she read it, her face got paler with each word she read. She failed to notice her fellow factory-worker Marietta Edgecombe approach her from behind.
"Oh, what have we here, innocent little sister?" Marietta said, gleefully making a grab for the letter. "Come on, Lily, let's have all the news!"
They wrestled for a few minutes over the letter until Marietta was holding it triumphantly. To Lily's horror, she began to read it aloud for everyone to hear.
"Dear Lily, you must send us more money-your child needs a doctor-there's no time to lose!"
Lily made a desperate grab for the letter. Marietta held it out of reach, smirking.
"Give me that letter!" Lily snapped. "It's none of your business!"
Lily lunged at Marietta, and they both fell to the ground, once again wrestling over the letter.
Sirius, who was known to everyone as Mr. White, came out to see what was going on.
"What's going on? I run a factory, not a circus," he cried, holding Lily back as the foreman held Marietta back. Sirius turned to the foreman.
"I look to you to sort this out, but please be as patient as possible."
Sirius went back to his office.
The foreman turned to Lily and Marietta.
"Explain," he said coldly. Marietta approached him, holding out Lily's letter.
"We were fighting over this. I was curious about Lily's daughter, but she wouldn't let me read it," she said. The foreman looked at Lily, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"You have a daughter?"
Terrified, the red-head nodded. The foreman read Lily's letter.
"You stay," he told Lily. "Everyone else, out. The day is over."
After the factory was empty, the foreman spoke again.
"When I hired you, you told me you had no family."
"Please--"Lily said. "I was afraid you wouldn't give me a job--my daughter lives with an innkeeper and his wife--they have two children, so my Ginny can play with them. I have to send money for her-what's wrong with that?"
"You're going to have raise money for her elsewhere," the foreman told her, giving her a pink slip. "You lied during your interview. I'm going to have to let you go."
"I must lie!" Lily exploded. "How else can I get a job? Raise money and support her?"
"It is not my fault," the foreman told her.
"Of course it isn't," Lily said. "I just fell in love, that's all--"
"Being 'in love' is no excuse for having a child out of wedlock," the foreman said. "I have no choice but to let you go. I'm sorry."
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Fired. The word echoed in Lily's mind as she walked down the streets of London. Lily fingered her wand, now wishing she'd just summoned the letter away from Marietta instead of just letting her read it out loud. But of course, she couldn't have done that-Muggles worked at the factory, too.
Tears leaked out of Lily's green eyes. She was now unemployed and had no money, and Lucius was steadily increasing the price of Ginny's care. She needed to come up with more money quickly, especially since Ginny was sick and needed medical attention. If she didn't receive medical attention, Ginny could die. She needed to get more money for Ginny. Her father hadn't bothered to stick around to take care of Ginny, but Lily loved Ginny more than anything. She'd get the money so Ginny would become well again.
When Lily had met Ginny's father, she'd been taken with him-so charming. She'd thought that they'd be together forever. But once she'd become pregnant with Ginny, he'd left her. Lily had dreamed that life would be different from what she was living-but real life had killed that dream. Lily was aware that he was never coming back, and that she must support Ginny on her own. No one would help her.
