Accio Evans

Chapter 39: Future

"I've been thinking, about the future..." James said into the relative quiet of the Head Student office, Lily visibly stiffened at his words. Her hand hovering over the paperwork, frozen to the spot.

"What about?" Lily asked through gritted teeth. James noticed but tried to pretend he hadn't, instead he buried himself in the Quidditch pitch rota, assigning Slytherin the pitch for the following Thursday evening and Ravenclaw for Friday.

"Oh, you know," James tried to flip off the statement at Lily's obvious tension, but then decided against it, they needed to discuss life after Hogwarts, they only had a few months left and then they'd be on the outside, on their own. "House, jobs, that sort of thing. Did you know, Sirius' Uncle left him a load of gold in his will and a house in London? I think he wants us all to move in with him." James looked up to see her reaction, her posture had loosened and she was smiling as she added a name to the Prefect rota.

"That sounds great." She replied. Where at first her positive attitude seemed natural, it now seemed forced.

"You alright Lil?" James asked, rising from behind his desk and crossing the room until he reached hers. He perched himself on the edge of her desk, moving the half complete Prefect rota out of the way as to not smudge the still wet ink. She wouldn't meet his eyes; content with staring into her lap, her fingers idly fiddling with the sleeve of her woollen cardigan. A feeling of panic rose in James' chest but he subdued it dismissing it as silly, although the feeling still lingered. He repeated himself. "Lil, are you alright?" she exhaled deeply. It was only then when she raised her head and met his gaze did he notice that her emerald eyes that were usually so full of life were devoid of the playful glitter, instead they were brimming with unshed tears and she looked lost. "Lily..." James breathed and moved closer to wrap her in his arms, but she held up her finger gesturing for one second. James, confused, looked on as she leant into the top left hand drawer on her desk, slowly withdrawing a copy of what looked like the Daily Prophet, but why did Lily have a copy of the paper stored away in her desk? He thought she'd cancelled her subscription? But the scribbled name on the top wasn't hers; it belonged to another Gryffindor student Harper Flint, a fourth year? Delicately Lily leafed through the pages until her eyes settled on the headline, James stood behind her, his head resting on her shoulder as he read the article that Lily had turned to.

'Muggle Born Regulation Act to come into force on May 1st.

From the first of May, all witches and wizards born of Muggles must register with the Ministry of Magic by 6 PM GMT or risk fines of up to 100 Galleons. All employers must declare how many Muggle-borns they have working within their business or risk fines of up 50 Galleons, and there will be a tax of 5% of all yearly profits from the business for every muggle-born witch or wizard working for the business. All job applications wizards and witches of Muggle birth will be subject to approval by the Ministry of Magic. Muggle-born business owners must relinquish the keys to their property and the business to the Ministry of Magic for inspection.'

James felt so sick he couldn't read on, the Ministry was forcing muggle-borns to register? That's was barbaric, that was sick. The heaving sensation in his stomach told him that he was about to vomit. Taking in a sharp intake of breath, he managed to calm his stomach but the feeling still hung in his throat.

"When was this?" he managed to choke.

"T-t-today." She replied and her voice cracked. Forgetting his feelings, he span her chair around so she was facing him and wrapped her up in his arms, her head pressed into his shoulder.

"All I want to do is be able to go to work, and I want to have a job, I just want to be able to go home and moan about how I hate my job and pretend to look for another but never actually bother, I want to come home tired and when you ask me what's the matter, I can say work. Why can't they let me have a job?" she rambled into James shoulder, the tears falling thick and fast. There was nothing he could say to soothe her; he could just hold her while she cried. Then an odd thought struck him.