"Why don't you let me get it, Sev?" Lily suggested.
"Be my guest, Lily," he replied with a smirk.
Lily went over the portrait and opened it. "Hello, Albus. Please come in."
"Lily!" Albus gasped, placing his hand over his heart in shock and stumbling backwards.
"Perhaps you ought to come in and sit down, Albus" Minerva suggested. Remus got up and offered Albus his chair.
"Can I offer you a glass of wine, Headmaster?" Severus asked. "It is from the wine cellar of Witches Moon."
Lily resumed her seat between Minerva and Pomona and Dumbledore sat down heavily in Remus' vacated chair. "When did you return, Lily?" He asked.
"I returned at midnight on Halloween," she replied. "And my identity's been confirmed and registered at the Ministry."
Dumbledore glared at Severus before asking, "Did Severus bother to tell you that your husband has also returned?"
Lily shrugged. "Sev told me that night and even offered to take me to St. Mungo's to see him, but I didn't want to see him. James and my marriage was on the rocks even before we went into hiding. He was always gone and even when he wasn't; we had Sirius as a permanent house guest. It only worsened when we went into hiding and we were forced to spend all our time together. I frankly couldn't stand the sight of him or his controlling personality."
"Bu…but Harry's first birthday …" Albus stammered. "You both seemed blissfully happy."
"James always put on a good front when other people were around. In fact his whole life was one big front that I fell for," Lily snapped.
"I'm giving Lily Professor Thornbuckle's old quarters," Minerva announced.
"But she has no reason to stay at Hogwarts, Minerva," Albus pointed out. "I'm sure we could find her somewhere in Hogsmeade to stay."
"Let's not argue, Albus," Minerva replied. "Because I'm sure you're planning to invite Mr. Potter to stay here when he's dismissed from St. Mungo's even though he still retains possession of Potter Manor. Lily doesn't have anywhere to live since the house in Godric's Hollow is a wreck and who'd want to stay there in any case?"
"Actually, Albus, Lily does have a reason to stay here," Filius piped up. "She's agreed to become my apprentice and continue to study for her mastery in Charms."
Albus huffed and got up. "It seems I have no say in this matter." He hated being outmaneuvered.
"No, Albus you do not," Severus answered.
Albus strode out of Severus' quarters, letting the portrait door slam shut loudly behind him.
"I believe Albus is throwing a tantrum," Pomona remarked.
"I've met two year-olds better behaved than him," Poppy muttered.
Severus smirked. "I think the headmaster's plans have really gone bollocks up now."
"You would think at his age he would start acting like an adult at some point," Minerva griped. "But now he's acting like a child denied the sweet he wants!"
"He does resemble my cousin Dudley who acts like that when he doesn't get something he wants," Harry said and everybody laughed, having heard Minerva's story about Dudley crying for sweets and kicking his mother.
The celebration dinner broke up before nine and Harry went back to Ravenclaw Tower with Filius. Before he left his dad had given him permission to tell his friends about Lily's return since her identity had been confirmed and registered at the Ministry.
The next morning Harry cast the Muffliato spell around him and his friends at breakfast and told them what had occurred within the last week. They were sitting at the Ravenclaw table this morning and although he didn't have to worry about somebody eavesdropping, he chose to cast the spell to be safe.
They were all speechless for a moment, but that was to be expected as they had never heard of anybody returning from behind the Veil before.
Millie was the first to break the silence. She gave him a hug and said, "Harry, I'm so happy for you!"
"Thanks, Millie," Harry said.
"Will you still be living with your dad or Mr. Potter?" Theo asked.
"I'm going to live with my dad and my mum's going to have an apartment right by the spiral staircase that leads up to the entrance to our tower. She going to be studying with Professor Flitwick to complete her mastery in Charms." He made a face. "From what mum wrote dad about James Potter when she was married to him; he sounds like a complete berk."
"I've heard the same from my dad," Draco said. "He was a seventh year Prefect when Potter first came to Hogwarts and he said he was a bullying troublemaker from the moment he arrived."
"It's a good thing then you're not going to be living with him then," Neville said.
As she had promised Minerva had the elves clean and move furniture into Professor Thornbuckle's former apartment. Lily moved into in the middle of the week. Harry was glad his mum was close by because he could come down and visit her. Sunday morning Harry and Lily joined Severus for breakfast in his quarters. The smells of frying bacon, potatoes, and sausages greeted them when they came in. Blinky was helping Severus by keeping an eye on the frying food while Severus was beating eggs in a bowl.
"Can I help, Dad?"
"I think I have everything in hand here, but you may set the table if you wish. You will need to set it for four."
"We're having company?"
"Yes, I have invited Regulus, Sirius' younger brother over for breakfast."
"He's the one who works for Wizarding Child Services?"
"Yes."
Harry went to set the table with Lily helping him. They were setting pitcher pumpkin juice on the table and helping Severus to get the food on the table when the floo sounded. Only a few people outside of Hogwarts had access to Severus' floo address and Reg was one of them. He brushed himself off and stepped out of the floo.
Harry noticed he resembled Sirius having the same curly black hair and grey eyes as Sirius did, but he was a bit shorter and thinner than his older brother and definitely a lot quieter.
"Hello, Reg," Severus called. "Please come in and have a seat."