Though the doe had taken off at a good clip, Lily had it back in sight before long. Surprisingly, they didn't have far to go, as the creature, still taking impossibly long bounding strides for anything other than a creation of magic, landed right next to a dark-haired man. The doe circled slowly as Lily caught up and brought herself to a sharp stop, one complete turn from where it had landed, and then the form of the creature dissipated.
This wasn't what Lily had expected at all. Her Patronus hadn't fulfilled its task, as Harry wasn't in sight, only the man the doe had circled, marking him silently as the completion of her current purpose. This wasn't a miscast, she was certain of it, so what was going on?
Lily bit her bottom lip a moment, trying to decide her next course of action. If this man was a Muggle, she would have a great deal of explaining to do, as she doubted he would accept that he had been hallucinating, and she wouldn't use her magic on him.
And then she truly looked at the man before her. The resemblance to James, or more accurately, the resemblance to photographs of James' father before James was born as this man was older than James, was uncanny. It was also unnerving following everything that had happened thus far. While an entire city could not be a Death Eater trick, this very well could be.
Her wand held loosely at her side, neutral in state but a second from a defensive stance if necessary, Lily stepped forward a few steps, then stopped as something occurred to her. They were in the future, which meant there were no doubt future versions of all they knew here – including Harry, had he somehow survived the night she and James had only lived (or died, they still weren't certain) less than an hour ago.
Harry? Yet even that couldn't be right, as in the year she and James had been told they were in, he would be only a few years older than themselves. Nothing added up.
She realized she still hadn't spoken, had only been staring at him quiet rudely, so she cleared her throat. "Hello." Not exactly the best greeting to learn anything, but she was hesitant to give anything away herself, if this was some Death Eater plot.