Archive of Our Own

Harry kissed his daughter on the forehead. Her soft hair tickled his nostrils. Its ginger red could be seen even in the dim light of a hovering snitch above them.

“Good-night, my little princess.”

“Night, dad.”

Turning off the light, Harry gently stroke her head. His little Lily was his gem. She had his mother’s green eyes and Ginny’s ginger red hair, which was smooth in his rough palm.

Discarded clothes were scattered on the floor. Once again, she removed the deep green robes and chose the navy blue robes. She was afraid that the combination of green robes and her red hair would give people impression of Christmas. She winced at the memory her classmates bantered when she wore light green ones for the prom party. Buttoning up, she combed her hair with fingers hastily and checked her face on the magical mirror on the wall.

“I recommend green ones. It matches the color of your eyes,” It said.

“No, I don’t think so. The first job interview, today. Where is my wand?”

The mirror sighed, “Behind your right ear, again. I told you. It’s not a muggle pencil.”

“Old habits die hard,” Her hand found the shrunk wand. She enlarged it and began casting make-up spell on her face. Her thumb rubbed the smudge under the lower lip. She mumbled, “I’ve never succeeded in doing this charm.” Then she shrunk her wand and put it back behind the right ear.

“Not there, the wand!”

The mirror shouted, but she had already shut the door.

Lily looked at the surface of the brass plate. Aurror Ofice. That was where her father had worked so hard. She was very proud of him. Though he had never taught her, she was an ace at DADA when she learnt at Hogwarts. She rehearsed an interview in her mind once again, and breathed in and out. And she knocked on the door.

“Come in.” A muffled female voice was heard.

Lily cautiously entered the room and scrutinized the two interviewers in front of her. A witch on the left, about fifty years-old, had bushy hair just like Aunt Hermione. She had blue eyes and smiled at her, when wrinkles at the corners of them got deepened.

She said in her alto voice, “Sit down, please, Miss Potter.”

Her surname being called, she felt a bit uncomfortable. She didn’t want people to show favor to her name. She wanted to pass the interview by herself. The blond wizard on the right kept reading a resume at the oak desk. He didn’t lift his head at all. It seemed that he was waiting for her next move like a hunter in the bush. She winced under sudden tension.

The witch spoke to her, “I’m Mary Dillon. This is Matthew Barke. I’d like to ask you some questions to check your eligibility to Auror. Please tell me your honest answers.”

Being still nervous, Lily nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Can you tell me something about yourself?” Dillon asked briskly.

“Sure. Well…I…eh…”

She was not going to tell about her father at first, but she started mentioning his fame without thinking,

“I am very proud of my father. He has contributed so much to the Wizarding World. I’m willing to pick up the torch. DADA was my favorite subject at school. I have confidence in my wand skill. So I think I can be useful when we need to investigate the Dark Magic and the other incidents.”

Her heart was beating quickly after she answered the first question.

Dillon smiled, “I see. Well, what will you do, when you are disarmed?”

Lily didn't prepare for the second one. How could she answer that? She had no idea. While she was at a loss for words, Dillon continued,

“Can you do any martial arts?”

Lily managed to answer, “I’m sorry, but I can’t.” Feeling miserable, she glanced at the man on the right. Oddly, he didn’t look up from the resume yet.

“You don’t need to worry about that. You have the other options in the DMLE. Other than Auror, what position would you like?”

Lily was shocked to hear that. “I can’t think of the other position than Auror.” She wanted to cry. Did she say something wrong? Professors at Hogwarts didn’t tell her about martial arts when she consulted about her future career. Then she noticed the man stare at her. His hazel eyes were familiar to her. Finally, he told her quietly,

“Many young people try to become an Auror. But I don’t think it suits all witches or wizards. You will face reality soon. You don’t need to tread a thorny path when you have many possibilities in the future.”

The softly spoken voice was also very familiar to her. She was sure who he really was.

“Dad? I reckon you are Harry Potter.” She made a sigh of relief and soon felt a mix of slight anger and embarrassed feeling. How could he intervene in her interview like that?

Dillon grinned, “Mr. Potter, she saw through that you exceeded your authority. You know you need to let her pass the interview.”

The blond wizard mumbled, “Finite.”

Soon Lily saw his hair turn back to jet-black mixed with stirpes of grey.

Her father heaved a big sigh, “You win, Mrs. Dillon. My little, Lily, I wished you wouldn’t pass this interview. I was going to encourage you to have the other interviews, such as the one at Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office or at Administrative Registration Department. I want you to be safe as possible as you can.”

Hearing her father say “My Little Lily,” her anger melted instantly.

“Dad…eh…Mr. Potter, you don’t need to worry about me. I am an adult witch. I can take care of myself.”

Head Auror Harry hugged his daughter tight in his arms. He knew it was her new beginning of her life. It was about time to say good-bye to his little princess.