A.N.: I'm hoping that this chapter didn't take as long as the last one… most sincere apologies. Really though. You guys are the best.
Disclaimer: For the billionth time, no, this is not J.K. Rowling and I am not coming to you live.
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Chapter Ten:
The lovely thing about a girls day was that there were no boys present. The sad thing about a girls day, Lily decided, was that because said boys were not present, they were all anyone wanted to talk about.
"For the billionth time, Marlene, it was fine," she said flatly as they peered around the new robe shop in downtown Hogsmeade. It was a small place, crammed between Dervish and Banges and an outpatient Healer's clinic, but it seemed to be receiving a decent turnout during the first Hogsmeade weekend of term. Having declined her friends' suggestions of trying on some new sets of robes, Lily was stationed outside the fitting rooms, patiently waiting while the other girls experimented with different colors, fabrics and styles.
"Godric, I wish my allowance could cover this," Mary exclaimed, pushing aside the thick velvet drape that allowed her room privacy. The dress robes were a cornflower blue shade that complimented her trademark Irish complexion. The empire waist fit her snugly, with gauzy sleeves that reminded Lily vaguely of a Muggle rockstar. It was quite interesting that despite all of the purist slander towards Muggles and Muggle culture, trends still seemed to mimic one another nonetheless.
"Beautiful, Mare," Lily agreed. "But where would you wear them?"
"Good point." Mary sighed in annoyance. "Not exactly Gryffindor victory celebration material. Besides, I can't afford them anyways." Without further ado, she yanked the curtain closed once more.
"Alright, I'm about finished," Marlene drawled, emerging from the stall to the right of Mary's. "I've got no reason to buy new robes as it is, and that maroon made me look positively ghastly."
"We can't have that, now can we?" Lily mused. Marlene ignored her and hung the rejected robes back up.
"Are you lot ready?" the black haired girl inquired loudly, and moments later, Dorcas, Mary and Alice emerged, pulling their jackets back on. The girls thanked the shopkeeper, who seemed rather put off that they hadn't bought anything, and trooped back out to the street.
"For the record, Lily, fine isn't very descriptive," Marlene continued, to Lily's annoyance, in the vein of conversation. "You seemed happy this morning. James seemed happy. I mean, you've been getting along famously. You can't blame me for wondering."
Lily narrowed her eyes. "We're friends, Marls. Friends. That's all. He's only just stopped being a prat."
"It didn't happen overnight, you know. You're just the last one to notice," Dorcas commented. "I mean, if you thought girls fancied him before, if anything his newfound 'maturity' has them salivating in the loo. Just yesterday I heard Pamela Davies and Winona Fortescue talking about how he's just so dreamy." Dorcas snorted. "Honestly he hasn't changed much on the Quidditch pitch. Still wiping the grass with our arses every practice. Dunno how he expects us to survive to face Hufflepuff next month."
A brief flicker of irritation flashed across Lily's mind at the thought of daft twits such as Davies and Fortescue gossiping about James as if he was a slab of Honeydukes' finest. "Anyways," she cleared her throat loudly. "Any of you fancy a butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?"
Dorcas jumped at this suggestion, and all talk of James Potter was abandoned in favor of nabbing a table fit for five at the pub. As was typical of chilly Hogsmeade weekends, the place was overrun with students and staff alike, laughter and conversation filling the air. Lily followed Marlene as the dark haired girl forced her way through a throng of overly excited third years to get to a booth in the corner.
Once the girls were comfortably settled, Madame Rosmerta, the curvy young barmaid, appeared. "What can I get for you today girls?" she asked, her red lips curling upwards into a smile.
"Five butterbeers, please," Dorcas grinned. With a flick of her wand, the barmaid had five mugs filling themselves at the tap behind the bar; another flourish and the mugs floated over the heads of customers and lowered themselves in front of the five Gryffindors.
"Thank you," Lily told her, cupping her hands around the warm drink.
"My pleasure." She bustled off, her blond curls swinging behind her. The Three Broomsticks had only been around since their second year at Hogwarts, but it remained a mystery as to how old Madame Rosmerta was—she seemed to be an ageless fixture of the establishment.
"Mind if we join you, cousin?" Lily turned her head to find two nearly identical boys with closely cropped russet hair lounging against the side of the booth.
"Gid! Fabian!" Alice exclaimed before anyone else could react. The brunette nearly jumped out of the booth in her eagerness to give embrace her two cousins. With a closer look, Lily realized that she recognized them from their days at Hogwarts. The twins had been in the same House as their cousin, but had graduated in Lily's fifth year. In the two years since she'd seen them, the two had visibly matured. They seemed taller and broader; and had shorn their long hair.
"Nice to see you too, Allie," Gideon gasped, nearly suffocated by Alice's affections. She released him, grinning broadly, before hugging Fabian tightly.
"What are you doing in Hogsmeade? Last I heard you were still in training," Marlene inquired.
Fabian shrugged. "Well, we graduated about a month or so back, so we've been on the job for a bit. Longbottom owled us a few weeks ago and asked us if we could meet up for a drink. He wants to be an Auror, see."
"Does he," Alice said faintly, a flush filling her cheeks. Lily exchanged glances with her dorm mates, each of whom was finding it equally hard to resist laughing. Dorcas, ever the loud one, let a quiet snicker escape. Alice tossed a glare in the blond's direction before turning back to her cousins. "You already met up with him them, I suppose?"
However, as soon as she'd finished it became clear she'd spoken too soon.
"Prewett! Prewett!" Frank Longbottom was making his was across the pub, sidestepping a few rambunctious fourth years before reaching the booth. "Sorry, I'm a bit late. Got trapped at the post office."
"Don't worry about it, just catching up with our dear cousin," Gideon motioned to Alice who wore an expression akin to a deer in headlights. The girl had seemed to have forgotten what to do with her limbs after pulling away from her cousin; her arms fell aimlessly at her sides while her lips were a question mark.
"What are we, rubbish?" Dorcas remarked sarcastically, drawing the attention away from her starstruck friend.
"No, you're just ickle sixth years," Fabian grinned.
"Pfft. Let's not forget it was only two years ago that you were such sixth years?" Marlene drawled, shaking her head before turning to Frank. "If you three boys are finished talking business, care to join us?" It did not escape Lily's notice that Alice was now glaring vehemently at Marlene.
"C'mon, slide in," Lily motioned for the brunette to resume her seat next to Lily as the five girls scooted closer towards one another to make space for the three newcomers.
"Three more, Rosmerta!" Dorcas called.
Once the boys were settled with drinks, Lily decided she couldn't help herself. "You said you're doing fieldwork now? As in, rounding up extremists and the like?"
Fabian sipped his butterbeer solemnly before setting it back on the table with a gentle thud. "Part of the Department's efforts are centered around You-Know-Who and the blood purity movement, yeah. Can't really say much, since it's all confidential business, but I'll tell you that things are a lot more mucked up than the Prophet is making them out to be."
"I mean, you can read all about the legislative efforts, but it's all being kept off the front page as long as possible. The Ministry doesn't want to send everyone into panic, see," Gideon supplied.
"They just want to keep us all in the dark? Cowards," Dorcas muttered viciously.
Lily ignored her. "What do you mean, legislative efforts?"
"He means the gravity of the laws that the politically active witches and wizards with purist agendas are trying to pass aren't being accurately portrayed to the public," Frank explained. "The Ministry doesn't want to upset wealthier pureblood families—it needs some of their funding and support. So when those tossers are trying to push legislature through Wizengamot, the Prophet is trying to downplay the fact that some of those bills are essentially rendering Muggleborns second-rate citizens."
Lily's mouth went dry, and her mug nearly slipped out of her hands. Prejudice was nothing new—she'd dealt with it since the day she set foot in Hogwarts. While dodging hexes and insults to her blood status wasn't pleasant, it was another thing altogether to have to live in a world where other people were convinced she was sub-human.
"Bastards," Mary said softly. The other members of the table nodded in agreement.
"Of course, we can't really do much about the political aspect of things. It's all out in the open, and as disgusting and crude as it is, they're following all of the legislative procedures. The disappearances, the hate crimes—that's what we're dealing with," Fabian informed them. "If you're going to read the news, you've got to read in between the lines if you want a glimpse of truth."
"As cheery as this rendezvous has been, we'd best get going," Gideon looked up from his watch. The departure of the twins effectively broke up the somber mood over the group, but did little to ease Lily's mind. A flurry of goodbyes were exchanged as they exited the pub. With a crack, the twins disapparated, leaving the sixth year girls alone with Frank Longbottom.
"You want to be an Auror too, then?" Alice asked upon starting up the street. In another life, Lily would've surely fainted from the shock of it, and by the looks of it Marlene and Dorcas were having a very difficult time containing themselves. Alice—quiet, shy, embarrassed Alice—was talking to Frank Longbottom, just as she'd been sworn to try at the start of term.
Lily and Mary fell into step behind Alice and Frank, Mary engaging in a series of gestures that essentially said keep-it-together-or-Alice-will-kill-you-later. It was all very amusing, Lily supposed. But in that moment, she was finding it rather difficult to crack a smile or display any sort of delight on her friend's behalf.
Perhaps sensing this, Mary looped her arm through hers and drew away from the group. "Lily and I are a bit worn out. I reckon we're going to head back up to the castle now. Catch you at the feast?"
Lily's heart swelled in gratitude at the silent understanding. They bid Marlene and Dorcas goodbye, assuming the two were content to trail Frank and Alice and save the latter from any potentially embarrassing situations, and turned towards the castle.
"It's scares me too." Mary said at last.
Lily glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. Mary's strawberry blond hair was pinned back from her face, neck swathed in a knitted scarf, gaze down. Mary MacDonald had always been the quietest, the sweetest, the most demure. Fragile was not the right word, but it was the closest thing Lily could think of to describe the person that Mary had become—especially since her encounter with the Slytherins last spring.
"I used to hate how it scared me," Mary continued, her voice growing more firm. "And then I realized that as long as I was scared, I can't forget and I certainly can't ignore it like the stupid Daily Prophet."
Lily nodded, some of the feeling was returning to her, the chill in her bones was ebbing away. "I suppose," she began, piecing together words and thoughts as they whirred frantically through her mind, "that we'll just have to fight it then?"
Mary smiled—not a manic, Dorcas Meadows grin, or a I-know-just-how-beautiful-you-think-I-am Marlene smirk, or even Alice's restrained but endlessly sweet expression. It was a resolved, satisfied quirk of the lips, almost as if she'd been waiting for Lily to say it all along.
A.N.: SOOO I originally planned on this being a lot longer with another perspective, but I'm just going to add that to the next chapter because I'm leaving for vacation for a few hours and I'll be gone for over a week so I figured best to treat you to the part I do have finished as quick as possible. How did you feel? I feel like a lot of fan fictions typically portray Mary as silly/vapid/shallow, and I felt like there was more to be had… I feel like she's definitely shy I want to dig deeper simply because I feel as though the incidence with the Slytherins really has an impact on her… Anyway. Alice and Frank? Thoughts? Please review, thank you endlessly for reading it makes me happy!
-xoxo NotsoSugarQueen