Welcome to Still-Crossed; an all-muggle Jily au based on the new TV show Still-Star Crossed. I am a bit of a romantic trash can and so please enjoy my ramblings. Feedback is loved and treasured (even flames), so please review after reading.
All characters belong to their respective original creators and any real life events/persons are only referenced in order to cement the events of this fictional story into the real world.
Great poets like to draw comparisons between hate and love. Some write that there is a fine line between them; others compare the two to warring ice and fire.
Lily calls the whole thing a sham. She knows about love and hate, and knows that there is no comparing- and no overlapping the two.
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She was only eleven when her parents were cruelly gunned down- in the street in broad daylight no less- by some Potter goon. The IRA back then divided their people like an unstoppable and unholy Moses, without a care towards the ones who were hurt the worst.
It was impossible to remember what started the fight in the first place. Perhaps an offshoot of the Evans clan had taken some Potter sheep, or the Potter's blacksmith had insulted an Evans' mother. All Lily knew was that the Evans and Potter families had been at odds for three generations, and with the civil unrest in the region, the spark had fanned itself into an inferno.
In the space of three weeks nine people had been killed, and in a tragic set of completely avoidable circumstances – the teenage, only-children of Farnley Evans and Cadeus Potter overdosed together. The coroner had shrugged when questioned by police and the families, citing that the plethora of drugs in their systems, combined with how their bodies were found suggested a joint suicide and the death of one was not the fault of the other.
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Lily had grown to despise the name Potter when she was but a child – so to see the pictures of her fourteen year old cousin and her purported boyfriend for herself sent her into a stupor. Marlene was still a kid, how could she have been in love? How could she have loved Sirius Potter?
She remembered the boy from school, remembered having him pointed out to her by her elder sister, combined with a disgusted hiss,
"That's the Potter boy. His family are the reason our parents were killed. If I could get away with shanking him right here I would."
Petunia was never known for subtlety, and when she was seventeen she did herself the great favour of marrying Vernon Dursley, the nephew of the chief of police and giving him a son a year later.
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Uncle Farnley was ever so grateful for Petunia for that little sacrifice. Petunia marrying to someone well connected meant he was then better connected to the powerful ones around him, which only served to strengthen his own plans.
A wayward teenage daughter in love with his nemesis' son who then joined him in death only put a slight hindrance to those plans.
Marlene had been an adorable child, but with far too much of her mother's stubbornness in her. That fiery temper too, most certainly did not come from the Evans' side.
Thinking of his dead child only brought grief to Farnley, so he pushed aside the ache in his chest and instead turned his focus to the quiet red-headed young woman trying to appear invisible as she sat opposite him.
0-0-0-0
Cadeus Potter despised churches. Not the Church, just the buildings that hosted them. A grandiose and repugnant sight in order to celebrate the works of the most humble Man. Even though he could not bear the cathedrals, he did concede that the chapel being built by the Evans clan was a beauty. If only the bastard funding it would actually finish the job.
He'd sent his good-for-nearly-nothing nephew in to find out why construction had stopped, perhaps the union had stepped in, or the Queen. He hadn't actually expected James to find anything of use, but given three hours, the boy had indeed uncovered news of the Evans being not nearly as solvent as they had always appeared to be.
A rare grin flashed across his face, announcing that James' reward would be to accompany him to a city meeting. Cadeus' glee was kept mostly internal, for not only had James risen to the challenge, but also had been pulled out of his mounting grief by being put to work.
A moping Nephew grieving the loss of his younger cousin, and his best friends was never a good look for a family as strong as his. Cadeus was determined to see James, now the heir to the family, did not disgrace their name.
0-0-0-0
Lily tried her best to not squirm as the curling iron did its best to sear her scalp.
"Stay still," Her aunt demanded, "you'll crease the dress if you don't stop fidgeting."
"Why must I go to the city meeting at all? Surely Uncle Farnley and you would rather have me stay at home and keep me out of the way whilst you attend something so important?"
"You're a part of the family Lily," Aunt Gina replied calmly, "with Marl-," she paused, unable to say the name of her only daughter, "with everything that's happened lately, your uncle and I have agreed that you are the best person to trust with our family moving forward. Tonight's meeting is all about demonstrating strength, and uniting behind the family name."
Lily could do nothing but nod, and allow her aunt to continue prettying her up. She felt like an unsuspecting lamb heading to slaughter, but couldn't quite put her finger on why the feeling was unshakeable.
She soon figured out why.
Lamb for the slaughter had been an understatement.
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James was cold. He felt shivers running up and down his back as he waited in the antechamber with his Uncle for the meeting to officially begin. He couldn't pinpoint why, but the way Uncle Cadeus all but demanded his presence there put him on edge.
In response to another shiver, James decisively moved to the wood fire further in the room, several feet behind his uncle. The move warranted naught but a glance from the older man, who checked his watched and suppressed a deep sigh. James warmed his back, keeping the door within sight, but realised with some disappointment that the fire did not quell his shivers.
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Mayor Escalus was considered by all to be a man to be feared. Rumours abounded of his involvement with bomb threats, counter terrorist activities, house raids, and even torture. Of course nothing ever stuck, but the rumours themselves became legends, and thus The Man himself was borne.
He was endlessly frustrated with the local clans warring with each other over petty misdemeanours that happened eons past. He was even more annoyed with the building levels of civil unrest in the region. However the thing that annoyed him the most was two of the regions oldest family clans, both not innocent of wrong doing, and both quite happy to place the entirety of the blame on the other.
No, after the Sirius Potter and Marlene Evans debacle, he decided that enough was quite enough. He'd read all about the War of the Roses, how the Yorks and Lancaster's fought for a throne, a war that destroyed innumerable lives and ended with a marriage and a child who succeeded both families.
He had first pinned his hopes of Sirius and Marlene. Although only teenagers, they were both malleable and at the age where they started looking toward the opposite gender, and Escalus meant for them to look at each other.
Of course even the best laid plans could turn on a dime, and Escalus blamed one man for the ruination of his plan for clan peace. Severus Snape. As his former junior protégé Snape was instrumental in getting Marlene and Sirius to even look at each other, and also manage to somehow get them together in the first place, even though Sirius couldn't stand Snape.
Unfortunately trusting Snape was also the downfall of his grand plan, as the boy was increasingly in the wrong crowd at school, and was ultimately the one who supplied the young couple with the pharmacy of drugs that they would then use to take their own lives.
Snape was better left hidden in the low-rent slum apartments in the middle of London, where Escalus had paid for him to keep low and out of the way for the rest of his miserable, greasy life.
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Lily was furious, with every syllable that was uttered by every adult in the room she grew more and more disgusted at them all. How dare they? She might be many things, but an idiot was not one of them. And following the directive they had set for her was pure idiocy.
An arranged marriage; something so medieval and archaic and horrible and these grand men she had known her entire life wanted to bring back the grand old tradition in the hopes that their desire to knife each other might lessen. Lily felt her initial reaction was justified, which was to storm dramatically from the room and slam the door with as much might as she could muster. Mayor Escalus was the first to trail her, followed closely by her aunt and uncle and his goons.
She couldn't get anywhere, each door she tried was locked, and the steps were blocked by a line of burly security guards whose mere presence promised a show if they dared cause a scene. Cornered she turned to sneer as those powerful people who planned to decide her future.
"You've got to be kidding yourselves if you think I'm going to be duped into agreeing to this." She spat, "This is beyond madness, trying to pair up a Potter and an Evans and expecting it to end in anything but more bloodshed. You've all lost you damn minds."
A quiet voice piped up from the back of the assembled troops, made up of men and women who were only united in one thing, "She's got a point, and I can't believe I'm saying it, but I agree with her."
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James wished the world had not lent itself to that very moment, but also found himself unable to wish his words unsaid. The Evans girl spoke nothing but truth, as she stood with security guards behind her, and a throng of respected elders and community leaders in front of her. James couldn't actually see her properly, but could catch a glimpse here and there as the crowd in front of him shuffled.
He would take a lot of convincing to admit it aloud, but he was drawn to the fiery red head. He remembered her from their high school days, although wisely kept in separate classes, there was no avoiding the Evans girls and he would never forget the day her older sister all but started a war on the school oval with Remus, an eventful lunch time that got all the senior students put on probation for the rest of the school term. He had been in the middle years of high school then, looking up to the elder teenagers and their unwavering dedication to continuing the feud from years long past.
Lily Evans had always seemed to simultaneously stand out and fall unnoticed into the background. James can't remember her ever causing a battle ground in high school, but at that very moment, facing all those who would force her against her will; she looked like Queen Boudicca, ready and willing to die fighting.
A few people had turned when he spoke, and none of the facial expressions were particularly kind. His Uncle Cadeus had spun around with his face becoming a concerning shade of puce. Mayor Escalus too, was unyieldingly stern, as though he were a naughty school boy in detention and not an adult.
"You all fail to recognise the fragility of our region," the Mayor hissed, the assembled crowd falling silent, "Your non-stop, petty disagreements with the other clan have meant that the city's crime rates are through the roof, two children are dead and we have extremists knocking on our doorsteps just waiting to sneak in and destabilise our entire way of life. Sirius and Marlene might be gone, but they demonstrated that the next generation could be your only saving grace."
Lily looked to her aunt in confusion, then to her uncle and the assembled men and women behind them.
"You don't need to coerce me into a marriage that I don't want to maintain peace." She spat back.
"You foolish child," he interjected, "This clan feud has gone on for three generations and single-handedly led to over eighty deaths in ten years because you lot can't seem to let it go."
"You cannot make me marry." was her only response.
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As it turns out, Mayor Escalus was not above blackmail, and Lord Potter and Lord Evans caught a glimpse of The Man that myth dictated could do anything.
For James, his coercion was easy, pull a couple of school records and cross reference his truant days with unsolved police reports of break-ins and robberies. He sent a short missive via an assistant to the Potter boy, and got a short scrawl in reply with acquiescence.
Lily however was more difficult to pinpoint a weakness for. A spotless school record with no truancies, no criminal record and was gainfully employed in a small tea shop working for the dotty cat lady who always smelt of mint. No boyfriend or girlfriend to speak of, and one sister she wasn't particularly close to.
Escalus had originally considered threatening the sister and her baby – but soon uncovered that going that far would be unnecessary. A medical record from her childhood revealed that Lily had a severe peanut allergy. He took a little bit more liberty with his second call of business, lacing his next note with more than just a written warning.
0-0-0-0
Lord Farnley Evans had never thought just how far the Mayor would go to achieve his aims, and was glad for Lily's insistence on carrying her Epi-pen wherever she went. He paced outside the hospital's emergency ward as he awaited news of her health, his wife by Lily's bedside. The peanut laced note was scrunched in his fist as he walked, and silently despaired over what he was willingly letting his niece get into.
Two days after the Peanut Incident, Lily found herself sitting in the waiting room outside the council chambers. Exhausted beyond all belief and not entirely recovered from the anaphylaxis, she knew she had been cornered and that she had unequivocally lost that battle. Escalus Riddle was so desperate for a willing clan treaty he was willing to kill her for it.
The receptionist had given her a once-over when she came in, but otherwise left her alone to wait for the appointment. Her uncle was already in a meeting with the Mayor, and reportedly with Lord Potter too.
That report seemed to chime true, more so when James Potter sauntered in through the door and was told to take a seat as well.
"You look a little bit closer to death than last I saw you." He commented airily, "Dare I ask why?"
Lily hazarded a look at the receptionist, busy typing and not even focussing on the two of them. She then glanced around looking for security cameras, letting her eyes slide over the one that likely featured them both on screen. She slowly turned her face away from the camera, as naturally as possible before mumbling a reply.
"Mayor Riddle decided to show us who's boss."
James' eyes flashed to her in concern before the meeting room door burst open, revealing the group of men within.
Lord Potter and Lord Evans were flanked by three of their best guards, and Mayor Escalus seated at the head of the table flanked by his own goons.
Lily tried to stop the visceral reaction she had at the sight of them, but her throat decided to mimic its earlier reaction and she choked out a hoarse coughing fit. Lord Evans moved quickly to his niece, and James kept his bulk of his gaze on the men still within, his own Uncle looking on in mild interest and the Mayor with a one-sided smirk. He heard her clear her throat and straighten, though James could tell that the ferocious spark he witnessed the few days prior had been subdued.
James wondered what Mayor Escalus had to threaten her with to get her to agree.
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They sat opposite each other, facing one another like equals, both feeling unequal to the task they had been forced into.
Marriage.
One of society's last great rites of passage and the two of them were being sold into it just to appease the masses.
Escalus Riddle made it inescapably clear that the two families would immediately call a ceasefire and redirect their efforts to rebuilding infrastructure damaged by suspect IRA members whilst the general public would come to see Lily and James' union as the catalyst for the change. Escalus knew that if either of the two families got control over the other, they would have the power to take down his leadership, a risk he was not willing to take, not in sacrifice of a sizable retirement pension and a guaranteed living in the county of his choosing after he retired from politics.
The two of them weren't even nineteen yet, but Escalus was certain that the two remaining single children from both families could coexist peaceably – and put an end to the ridiculous aspirations their respective uncles held.
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Both families came to agree that a public engagement party would be appropriate, held in the city hall, where many a country dance had passed in the decades before. It was to be followed by the wedding but a month later in the near completed chapel funded by the Evans. It was as short a timeframe as possible whilst allowing everyone involved to get the legalities ironed out.
James and Lily grew evermore resigned to their fate – and evermore impatient with the sight of the other. Escalus and his office assistant had given them a schedule of public appearances that he expected them to comply with, a series of dates to make them more viable as a couple.
During one such date, at a milkshake and burger joint, Lily stopped with her burger halfway to her mouth before dropping it back to the plate, her look of horror deepening as she stared at the man she was to marry.
"He's planning on a pregnancy rumour." She had whispered.
"What?" James had a mouthful of burger and wasn't sure he had heard her properly
"He's expecting that us being in public now will cause a few rumours, but when he marries us off in a month's time, people won't be pointing the finger at our uncles, or some elaborate scheme to ward off a bunch of extremists. They'll be pointing the finger at you and me and the expectation that we got married so quickly because you knocked me up."
"I'm not knocking you up."
"Good, I don't want you getting me pregnant and it's off the table anyways."
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They bicker for the next two weeks until their engagement party, when their Lord Uncles get up to outdo each other in their toasts, before bowing out to their mayor who thinly veils his warnings to them both in a beatific speech laced with a subtle layer of steel.
They find each other's hand in that moment, surrounded by family, friends and enemies. As Escalus goes on about starting afresh, and how the wrongs of the past may stay in the past as long as the two of them promote their own healthiness and happiness for the benefit of the other.
Lily grips the fingers holding hers tightly once he mentions healthiness, and as Escalus meets their eyes, he knows that they understand him completely, and that he has won this round.
James is immediately frightened when the small hand in his grips firmly mid-speech. He had an inkling of what Riddle had done to her to get her to agree, based on what he saw in the waiting room those few weeks earlier. The content of the Mayor's speech only confirmed what he had suspected.
Then the bomb went off.