Do You Remember?

Lily Potter looked around St. Jerome's graveyard as wizards and Muggles alike visited the graveyards of their ancestors. The sun had set, and had left back a few beautiful hues of pink and orange for them to relish. Twilight was Lily's favourite moment of the day, when she sat hand-in-hand with James and gazed at the sky. The graveyard was unusually thronging with visitors, but Lily was not surprised considering that it was the Day of the Dead. She was looking longingly at the entrance of the graveyard hoping that Harry would visit. He hadn't visited in three years, but Lily refused to give up hope.

Swiftly glancing around the graveyard, she saw Kendra Dumbledore walking, or rather, being a ghost, gliding across the dark graveyard. What Bathilda had been to James and herself in life, Kendra was to them after death. She always had words of wisdom and comfort for Lily and James.

Lily saw a red car stop at the entrance of the graveyard. Her heart raced - was it Harry? But the one who got off the car wasn't Harry. It was a girl with blonde hair - the Abbott girl.

She reminded Lily of Harry's visits to St. Jerome's previously. He seemed to know(or maybe believe) that Lily and James were actually listening to him. He would usually visit alone and seem to be talking to the air but his sentences would generally start with a 'And you know Dad...' or 'Mum, you'll love to hear this...' He would share snippets from his life with them; once he even brought his son - James Sirius- to visit their graves. But ever since he had had children Harry's visits had grown more and more infrequent. It vexed James though he tried to conceal his frustration.

"He'll not come." came Kendra's voice. Lily turned towards Kendra and saw that she was speaking to James. Had James been thinking of Harry too?

"He won't come." Kendra repeated calmly, "Kids never do. It is a miracle he visited as much as he did. Aberforth visited my grave only twice after my death and Albus only once. Ariana...she missed me a lot more; but poor soul, she died soon after me."

Lily reached out her hand and slightly squeezed Kendra's. The two mothers understood each other well. Kendra seemed to come back to the discussion at hand for she said, "All the same, he is lost in his life now and I doubt Harry will visit again, sweet boy that he is."

"Look! Oh, look, he is here!" James was shouting, and earning both curious and hostile stares from the ghosts in the graveyard. Lily would have been chiding James for yelling but she was too engrossed in watching her son. She noticed, of course, how he had changed but more importantly, she was guessing who was the lady he had brought with him.

She was an old, wrinkled, frail, thin lady with sharp features and a long neck. She wore a pink dress and had her shoulder length hair combed neatly. However, her beauty was tainted not only because of the marks left by age but also because this old lady looked completely bewildered. Harry was holding her arm gently and guiding her towards Lily's tomb.

"Who is she?" asked James. Lily shook her head indicating her ignorance. She noticed that Kendra had quietly withdrawn herself and was now talking to her daughter Ariana.

Lily stood by her grave, holding James' hand waiting to see what Harry would do next. Harry bent down and touching each letter inscribed on her gravestone , slowly read out -

LILY POTTER

Born:- 30 January 1960

Death:- 31 October 1981

"Do you remember? Lily Evans, that was her name, do you remember?" Harry did not get any reaction from the old lady and was visibly agitated. James was no better simply because he couldn't understand what was going on. As though he felt their presence, Harry looked away from the old lady briefly to say, "She had an accident and has lost her memory. The potion required as treatment will take a few months and the best we can do is to try and reinforce her childhood memories.

Lily and James looked at each other, puzzled. She was going through all the friends she had had since Hogwarts and James' face told her that he was doing the same. And yet...this old lady didn't look like anyone she remembered. "She can't be Mary McDonald, can she?" James asked. Lily bit her lip as she shook her head again. She felt as though the answer was on her lips; as though she should know the answer; as though it was a part of her being and yet...she couldn't place a finger on who it was. There was something equally distant and familiar about those hazy eyes, frail hands and the long horse-like face.

After a few minutes of staring into space with tired eyes, Harry channelled his efforts towards the old lady again. 'Please try to remember Lily Evans. Please. You used to play with her as a child. Your sister, remember? Lily Evans, your sister."

Lily gasped. "Tuney! Tuney, it is you!" She forgot that her sister could not hear her. She could not believe that this was her sister in front of her. She could remember almost nothing of how her sister looked as a twenty year old. The last clear memory she had of her sister was at King's Cross Station. Although she had tried to maintain contact with her sister and failed, Lily could not help but feel ashamed at not being able to recognize Petunia. There were sisters after all. And, if she had heard it right from Harry, then Petunia was responsible for keeping Harry alive before he attended Hogwarts.

"I wouldn't have dreamed that this was your sister." was James' only comment. Lily was unsure about James' feelings on the matter considering the fact that none of his encounters with Petunia had been very pleasant. In spite of Petunia's behaviour with both of them, Lily still harboured a soft spot for her.

Harry had now fished out a photograph and was showing it to Petunia. With a pleasant thrill Lily realized that it was her wedding photo - with James and Sirius in the picture along with her.

"Remember your sister now? Green eyes, remember those green eyes? Please, Aunt Petunia. Please. Try to remember Lily Evans. Your sister, the one you have seen since her birth.

A thin, raspy, broken voice spoke but the tone was filled with childlike innocence. "Li-Lily. My sister. My darling." Petunia Dursley reached out her hand and brushed her fingers against the letters L I L Y

and said , "Those magic people...they killed you. Bad people, they are. But I love you. I love you. Like always. "

Lily was smiling through her tears.