Lily Bud
Year 5 Chapter 50
It was always nice to be back in Hogwarts after a summer away from it. The feast was brilliant and it was lovely to see Dorcas and Sulfia back. Now they all lay in their beds. Gwen and Gunny were already sleeping.
"Look at my foot baby. Damn those house elves and their delicious cooking. So much for my diet!" Sulfia complained to the others two. Dorcas and Lily giggled.
"You don't need to diet and you know it." Lily said. Sulfia threw a pillow after her. "Yeah, very grown up of you."
"We can't all be the responsible Miss Prefect like you Lily." Sulfia shot back. "So how was it, leading those tinny first years to the tower with Remus?"
"Fine until the other three idiots decided to play a prank on us and made walls appear out of nowhere and made some of the suits of armor block the way, so that we had to take them on a huge detour and then they somehow switched the portray of the fat Lady with Sir Cadogan." Lily huffed. She was still annoyed with the boys. The other two just laughed at her.
"Come on. It is funny." Dorcas said between giggles. Lily now stuck her tongue out.
"Now who is the grown up?" Sulfia asked. "So what did you guys do over the summer?"
"I got back together with Michael." Dorcas told them. Lily felt like somebody had poured cold water over her head. She looked over to Sulfia, who seemed as lost for words. "He apologized for behaving like an ass last year and begged me for another chance. I said yes."
"O-kay… Did you tell him that we will tear him a new one should he messed up like that again?" Sulfia asked and Lily nodded along with her.
"Sulfia!" Dorcas shouted scandalized, but a small smile crept on her face. "I'm sure he knows."
"We will still remind him of it, right Lily?"
"Abso-bloody-lutely!" Lily sat up and nodded. It made her red hair bounce on her shoulders.
"Oh, shut up." Dorcas said, but a pleased look crossed her face. "How about you tell us what you did, that you couldn't visit us?" Dorcas replied and grinned at Sulfia. She clearly expected some kind of cool story. Last summer both Lily and Dorcas just got some letter telling them that Sulfia couldn't come over. It had been a bit strange, why didn't she just tell them if she was on holidays. Lily and Dorcas had already speculated about it, when Lily stayed at Dorcas' place for a bit in the holidays and when they were shopping in the Diagon Ally.
But Sulfia just looked uncomfortable.
"What? Sulfia? Is everything ok?" Dorcas was now concerned about her friend.
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it. Just stupid." Sulfia didn't look at either of her friends.
Lily and Dorcas shared a confused look, before both got up and went over to Sulfia's bed.
"Hey, it's ok. You can tell us. No matter what it is." Lily told her and took Sulfia's hand in her own.
Sulfia looked at their joined hands and sniffed quietly.
"Hey, hey." Dorcas said and slid onto the bed next to Sulfia and put an arm around her friend. It only made Sulfia sniff more. "What is it?"
"They are cowards." Sulfia finally whispered.
"Who?" Lily asked and crouched down in front of Sulfia, still holding her hands and looking her in the eyes from below.
"My parents…" Sulfia sniffed again and tears formed in her eyes. "They are afraid because of all the attacks and everything and don't want me to spend time at any of your homes, because you, Lily are a muggleborn and your mother as well, Dorky."
Now that was a slap in the face to Lily.
"Your parents don't want you to spend time with us?" She asked, still shell-shocked from the revelation. "Just over the holidays or…?" Lily didn't finish the question. She couldn't bear to lose a friend because of this stupid war.
"As if some lunatic and his deluded circus troupe of followers could make me give up on my friends." Sulfia claimed. She tried to sound confident, but didn't totally manage to. Neither Dorcas nor Lily told her that. Instead both hugged her.
It was frightening. That the war out there could have real consequences for her right now was not something Lily ever really thought about.
A.N. I gave you and Lily fluff in the last chapter and now the war is back and catching up. Sulfia and her family are pureblood and are able to stay low and out of the way and lets face it, that is not the worst thing to do for parents that have to worry about their daughters in a time of war. Additional Sulfia is the only Gryffindor in her family right now. The others are Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws. But a little bit of pranks and fluff is in this chapter as well. And I fully expect the other Marauders to prank Remus on his first day as prefect.
