A/N: Severus, Lily and the gang are now in Wizarding Worcester! Think of it as Ilvermorny's version of Hogsmeade. Next 2 Chapters after this one are back in Cokeworth with the Evanses for the Christmas Hols, then back to Ilvermorny to round out their fourth year.
Chapter 17 Excursions in Worcester
Thankfully, by the time the weekend rolled around, Lily had cleared things up with Nicole and apologized for her…forwardness in her and Severus' PDA. Things were *mostly* restored between the two girls and much to Severus' and Thomas' relief, by the following morning they were speaking to one another again, albeit just a little bit icily. Whatever it was that had come between them in the latter half of their late-night date, had simply gone and the two were seemingly all square and sorted with each other. Thomas gladly let the matter drop, and was happy the two girls seemingly had sorted everything out; but Severus was rather eager to get to the bottom fo whatever it was that had gotten between Lily and Nicole. It was a matter he pressed as soon as the two of them were alone after breakfast while on their way to Potions. Lily was not too receptive to his questioning and deflected his queries as much as she could—giving her boyfriend a taste of his own medicine as now he understood how she felt all those years when he'd deflect her questions away about his home-life.
Soon enough, it was Sunday and that meant it was time for their trip into Worcester, specifically the Magical Enclave that sat within the second largest Muggle city in Massachusetts. When Lily came out of her dorm room into the common room on Sunday morning, Severus was waiting for her, his backpack propped in his lap. Caroline, Scott, Nicole and Thomas all sat nearby him. Now that Lily had arrived, all they seemingly had to wait for was Sandra and then their little quintet would be complete. She opted out of wearing robes today and instead went for a long, mossy green dress that fell to her knees. Severus, ever the traditionalist, wore a newer set of dark brown robes that he'd purchased that day he went shopping in Diagon Alley with Mark and Lily. As Lily entered the packed common room, she was waved over by the group, as was Sandra who'd just entered the room behind her.
Just as soon as Lily and Sandra joined the group, the wall slid open and Rosier appeared. She cleared her throat loudly and drew the attention of the room towards her. When Severus spotted her, she seemed to be holding a scroll of parchment, on which were the names for all those going to Worcester today. Unlike Hogwarts, Ilvermorny oftentimes split the trips up into different batches based on house and year. The fifth and seventh years had their trip last week, and that meant the fourth and sixth years would have their turn today. The third years—like at Hogwarts they were the youngest allowed to visit the city, would be going the week after. Rosier read off a list of names, her green eyes scanning the assembled crowd as she read. When she'd finished, all the students she'd called out for, which comprised a good chunk of the fourth and sixth years, got to their feet and followed her from the room.
The Ceremony Hall looked almost just as it had when Severus and Lily had been sorted, the only difference being a litany of random objects scattered about the floor, and the runes appeared to be dormant—no light shone from them in the slightest.
"Everyone to a Portkey. All Fourth Years together, all sixth years together!" Rosier hollered.
The students complied, making their way to the assigned Portkeys that would take them into Magical Worcester.
Sure enough, there were nine Portkeys. Two for each house, with one being for fourth years, and the other for sixth years; the last was for the faculty that would be accompanying them. Among the staff making the trip were Professor Rosier, Wainwright, Carmen Kennedy—the History Professor, Phil Dalton—the Magical Culture Professor, and Timothy Walsch—the Ancient Runes Professor. All the students going on the trip had their wands tagged so that all the Professors could keep track of the whereabouts of the students on the trip, and if one or two strayed too far from where they should be, they'd instantly be alerted. Amongst the Fourth Year Horned Serpents, Severus, Lily, Sandra, Nicole, Caroline, Scott, Billy Heywood, Michael Tsao, Mary-Anne Bauers, and Jose Abreu seemed to be making the trip. Walters was barred from the first trip of the year owing to a prank he'd played on a group of unsuspecting first year Pukwudgies in which he'd turned the noodles in their soup into earthworms, a nasty prank that ended in two of the boys having to go to the hospital wing. Barbara and her two tag alongs, Melina and Rebecca had opted not to go as well, although her third friend Mary-Anne was tagging along with them.
Although a pureblood, like her inner circle of friends, Mary-Anne was a little more open than Melina and Rebecca were, and got along quite well with Scott and Caroline. She mostly kept to herself and that air of superiority her friends wore on their sleeves wasn't present with her for the most part. Severus had hardly interacted with her at all, save for a few passing words, but Lily found the girl to be alright, and a lot like her old roommate Dorcas in the sense that she was rather quiet, but could really get going when she opened up to someone. Out of the nine objects serving as Portkeys, the fourth year Horned Serpents had gathered around an old Atlas. More than large enough for all of them to lay a hand on, and as a result of mandatory Magical Culture classes taught by the always engaging and jovial Professor Dalton, all the students present were familiar with how to use a Portkey.
"Everyone grab a hold of your Portkey! They will activate in fifteen seconds!" Rosier and another teacher, Kennedy, hollered into the emptiness of the hall.
All the students did as they were told without question or hesitation. For they were well aware of the consequences of improper Portkey use. Needless to say they weren't pretty.
On cue, precisely fifteen seconds after Rosier and Kennedy spoke, all nine of the Portkeys vanished into thin air in a swirl of color, sending their occupants half-way across the state to Worcester in the blink of an eye.
When they had reoriented themselves, they were almost a hundred miles away in a large clearing on the outskirts of Worcester. The vast majority of the city was Muggle, as was the norm with major metropolises the world over, but like in London with Diagon Alley, a certain segment of this city was cordoned off for the magical population only. Granted, there weren't many magical folk residing in Massachusetts, perhaps only five thousand or so at most, but the Magical enclave on the outskirts of Worcester attracted people the world over. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise if there just so happened to be more people visiting Worcester at any given moment than there were magical residents of Massachusetts. The clearing they appeared in was empty, save for the rest of their classmates popping into existence with their own Portkeys, but beyond laid several lanes and alleys each with a vast array of shops and boutiques .
Just as the students were reorienting themselves and gaining their bearings back, a loud whistle—the volume of which was increased by a Sonorous charm, reached their ears. "Alright listen up everyone! We are all to meet back here in five hours, understood?" Professor Wainwright, the hands-on Herbology Professor was shouting at the top of his lungs to get their attention, and their attention he most certainly had. Dozens of sets of eyes met his as he barked out his instructions to the disoriented group of fourth and sixth years. "If you get lost, shoot red sparks up and I, or one of the faculty will come and find you. Also, don't try to wander into the No-Maj section of Worcester, you lot know the rules so you're aware that's not allowed. Meet back here in five hours pronto!" He yelled, his voice carrying across the clearing to all of the students' ears.
The students all muttered their affirmative, their response being enthusiastic enough to satiate the Professors. Soon enough, they set them loose on the little enclave with the teachers apparating to all the major sections of the enclave and keeping a watchful eye on the students to ensure they didn't get up to any mischief. Within minutes, the various streets, lanes and alleys that made up 'Wizarding Worcester' as the enclave was so aptly dubbed, were filled with a sea of red and deep blue as almost a hundred students descended on the streets. High street had already been filled nearly to the brim with shoppers from all across America, but now that an army of students was set to join them, it was pretty much at maximum capacity.
The gang split into two groups, with Severus, Lily, Sandra and Scott—to the everyone's surprise—making their way towards the sports memorabilia store; Caroline tagged on to Nicole's and Thomas' date as their plus one as they decided to head for the Rune Store to browse the runes they had on sale there. The two groups bade farewell to one another, and made their way through the throngs of shoppers to their respective destinations. Thankfully, from the clearing in which they'd landed, the Sports and History memorabilia store was only two streets away, located just off of high street.
"So which way is it to the Memorabilia store?" Severus asked Sandra and Scott as they navigated their way through the crowd of shoppers.
"Oh it's not far. Just on the other side of the main street down a side alley, follow me 'n Scott, we know the way quite well."
"I didn't know you're into History, Scott," Lily remarked curiously. "What aspect of it do you like?"
The blonde boy smirked ever so slightly. "Make no mistake Evans, I'm no History buff like McInroe…but the subject of greatest interest to me would have to be the revolution. No contest."
Severus sneered and muttered something along the lines of; "Bloody Yanks," under his breath.
Lily took his jibe in stride though, a smirk of her own curling her lips. "Of course, we're all entitled to our own interests," Lily said evenly. "I, myself am wildly fascinated by the war of 1812. Now that is something I can get behind," she added, her smirk giving way to a grin.
"Is that so? Well I happen to find the circumstances surrounding—"
"Are you two quite done yet? Merlin, you're driving me nuts with all this endless drivel about history, it's so grating!" Sandra exclaimed with a tired sigh.
"I, for once, am in agreement. Save your debate for when McInroe is here, and spare the rest of us your prattle," Severus drawled.
His comments earned him a sneer from Scott, as well as a scowl and thwack on the arm from Lily. They arrived at the Memorabilia store shortly after, with the crowd that filled main street thankfully thinning upon their arrival at the little alleyway that played host to the store. Inside the shop, they were greeted by an older woman perhaps in her sixties or seventies whom Sandra appeared to recognize. From there, the quartet split up to go their separate ways in search of the memorabilia they sought. Lily wandered off towards the historical section, as did Scott, but the two kept their distance from one another. Sandra and Severus meanwhile headed into the sports section of the store, with the former checking out the Quidditch banners and the latter keeping to the Muggle Sports section.
He meandered through the store, browsing the numerous pennants they had on display for all the major sports teams of the reason. Severus had little interest in American Football, nor Hockey, Baseball and Football—Soccer, as I'm now supposed to call it—Severus amended; but his interest had been piqued by Basketball. His curiosity of the muggle sport would only grow after hearing his three roommates, Thomas, John and Billy discuss the latest games and trade rumors in the two largest Muggle Basketball leagues in America, the NBA and ABA. The team he decided to support just so happened to be the one nearest to Ilvermorny, the Boston Celtics. After a reign of success that ran through the late fifties all the way through to the present day, his choice was a no-brainer; what between the Boston Celtics' recent successes in dominating the NBA, coupled with the proximity of their home city, Boston, to Ilvermorny.
He found the section bearing a few pennants and picked out two. One for his dorm here at Ilvermorny, and another to hang back home in Cokeworth. One was white with a few green three-leaf clovers strewn across it, the lettering: 1969 NBA Champions strewn labeled clearly representing the last time the Celtics had made it to, and won the NBA Finals. The second pennant he purchased was a dark mossy green in color with white bordering, this one lacked the smattering of three-leaf clovers like the first, in their place, a bold number 6 and the name Bill Russell. He was the superstar center most responsible for the Celtics' monumental run of success through the late 50s and 60s, 11 NBA Championships belonging to his name and his band of brothers in Bob Cousy, Sam and K.C. Jones, John Havlicek and more.
Bill Russell was a living legend, and Severus had been told as much repeatedly by Sandra and Billy; both of whom were nothing less than completely obsessed with the sport of Basketball, and had sucked Severus down the rabbit hole with them. Of his three roommates, Thomas' interests very much steered clear of sports—save for Football and on occasion, Baseball—John followed some sports, but most of his interests laid within the realm of history and Charms, Billy however was a huge fan of sports, muggle and magical, with Basketball and Baseball being perhaps his two favorite Muggle Sports. Severus too, now shared the sports obsessed boy's interest in Basketball. In fact, Severus could wholeheartedly credit his two sports obsessed friends, Billy and Sandra—both of whom played for the House Quidditch team coincidentally—for getting him into this mess and turning him into a basketball—more specifically, a Boston Celtics fan.
Sighing, at the thought, he stuffed both the Russell and the 1969 NBA Champions pennants in his paper bag and wandered further into the store in search of a few more things. With Lily planning on purchasing a few historical memorabilia for her snotty older sister, Severus decided to take it upon himself to purchase a few knickknacks for his two adoptive parents. Violet, being a Boston native by birth, would surely appreciate perhaps some Red Sox memorabilia, especially considering the fact that they were supremely dominant in the MLB when she was a child. The Red Sox had been having minimal success since then, but that was neither here nor there. As for Mark, Severus thought a simple map or perhaps a small tapestry detailing the layout of Boston would be rather neat. He'd seen a few cool looking tapestries as he walked into the store and thought that his adoptive father might like them.
He picked out one thing each for Violet and Mark, a Red Sox Pennant for the former, and a tapestry printed with a map of Boston's Back Bay for the latter. As he made his way to the cashier, he bumped into Lily who just so happened to have a couple purchases of her own.
"Hey Sev," she said, smiling. "Got what you need?"
"I do. How about you?"
Her smile broadened, and she lifted her hand which held a small bag of her purchases. "Already paid for."
"And what did you buy?"
"A strictly muggle history book for Petunia, a charmed mug for my mum, and a cigar-cutting thingy for my dad," Lily replied, tilting her bag so that Severus could see what she'd just bought for himself.
"And what about you? What are you buying?" Lily asked, leaning closer to see just what it was that Severus held.
Severus in turn showed her his purchases, to which she smiled and nodded her sincere approval. "Very nice Sev. Seems like the two of us had the same idea for mum, I figured she'd like a sports-related gift too."
"I thought the same. It didn't escape my notice that she had a Red Sox-themed brolly back home—" He shrugged. "—Thought she might like it."
"I think she will too," Lily remarked confidently. "Well don't let me hold you up from paying Sev. I'll just wait outside."
And so Lily left, her bag of purchases in hand. Severus didn't have to wait much longer 'til he was at the front of the queue, and after he paid for his things he joined Lily and Scott outside.
"Where's Sandra?" he asked, glancing over the crowd beyond them for a high-tailed pony of black hair.
"Right here!" The girl in question said, coming up behind Severus and tapping him on the shoulder.
Severus whirled around to face her quickly, a scowl of shock and surprise written all over his face. Lily tried to suppress her giggles, but failed; as did Scott in his efforts to hold back a smirk. Severus on the other hand was not amused, his scowl seemed to grow by the second as did the curl of his lip; Lily had known this for quite some time—Severus hated being snuck up on, and now so it seemed Sandra and Scott did too.
"I'm starved, what do you guys say we head for lunch now?" Lily asked, she silently hoped the change of topic would lessen the tension.
"Sure. Do you guys want to eat with us? We were gonna catch up with Caroline, and since you two are…you know—"
"Dating?" Lily supplied.
"Yeah," Sandra replied, smiling. "I figured you two would want some privacy. Scott and I could always show you both a few restaurants and then fuck off so you two can enjoy some private time," she added, an exaggerated wink thrown in for good measure.
Lily looked to Severus, encouraged at seeing the small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Yeah, I think we'd like that. What say you, Sev?"
"I think that'd be good," Severus affirmed.
Sandra smiled broadly, and Scott too looked pleased with the arrangement. "Well then follow Sandra and I then, there's a seafood place right around the corner, that should satiate your Lobster cravings for the time being Severus," the blonde boy said confidently.
"Lead on Scott," Lily replied, gesturing for their friend to lead the way.
Scott inclined his head in a 'follow me this way' motion, and so the quartet set off from the store through the crowd. A short while later, on another lane that branched off of the main street, they arrived at restaurant with a bright white and red awning, a lot like the one they'd eaten at back at Quincy Market; this lead Severus to believe this was a second outlet of that first restaurant in which he'd eaten the best lobster of his life.
"This is the place," Scott remarked, gesturing to the glass door that lead into the establishment. "I trust you shan't need help finding your way around later then?"
"I think between the two of us," Severus started, gesturing between himself and Lily, "—we should manage just fine."
"Cool. Well if you need anything, you can find me, Scott n' Caroline over on main street. There's a burger place up that way called Bob's Bombardastic Burgers, and no, I have no idea what that name means, it's just what the guy decided to call his restaurant."
"That is quite possibly the worst name for a restaurant I have ever heard, and that's saying something," Severus said scathingly.
"Yeah well…the burgers are really good," Sandra replied, her tone making it seem as if the supposed great taste of the burgers made up for the horrendous name of the establishment. "Next time 'round, you and Lily have to try it out. This place is good and all, but Bob's is really something special, some of the best burgers I've ever had."
"For once, I'm inclined to agree with you Sandra. One might say, the rationale behind the name is because the burgers are so good, they explode in your mouth," Scott added, chuckling quietly to himself at his quip.
While Lily found Scott's corny joke to be rather amusing, Severus and Sandra didn't share her sentiment in the slightest.
"That was probably the worst joke I've ever heard," Sandra drawled.
"On the contrary I thought it was pretty good."
Sandra's and Severus' simultaneous snorts highlighted their lack of amusement. "Come on Scott. Let the happy couple enjoy their lunch," Sandra muttered. "We'll see you two later. Have a good lunch," she called out as she and Scott walked away.
Severus and Lily wished her and Scott the same, before turning around and entering the restaurant. Like the outlet in Quincy Market, this branch of Kelpies, was decked out in a white, red and gold color scheme. Unlike the Quincy Market outlet, however, this one was noticeably smaller and less-crowded than the other. Severus and Lily walked in, and made their way to an empty table by the window, from which they could observe the street beyond. They picked up their menus and after a moment of deliberation, annunciated their orders clearly. Severus chose a Grilled Haddock n' Fries along with a Butterbeer to drink, while Lily opted for a Breaded Tuna Steak Sandwich and lemonade. Their food popped into existence not a minute latter, delivered by the unseen house-elves that manned the establishment.
The pair at their lunch at a fairly sedate pace, they still had over four hours left before they were due to head back to their Portkey so there was no rush for them. All the while they ate, they ran through their plans for later that day, and discussed which shops they wanted to visit. Severus definitely planned on making a stop at at Scrawlabus' Quill and Ink shop, he was in dire need of some black and blue ink, Lily on the other hand needed some new potion ingredients for her own private stores, so she insisted on a visit to the Apothecary—not that Severus would ever object on a visit an Apothecary of any sort, he had to go collect his free cauldron after all. With their plan sorted, Severus and Lily paid their tab, and then left the restaurant onto the side street—which was now noticeably less crowded than it had been a mere half an hour prior.
"So where to Sev?" Lily wondered, appearing at his side as his eyes scanned over the sparsely-populated alleyway.
"That's the one there I think," he replied, inclining his head to a shop in the distance with a signboard that read: Scrawlabus' Quills, Inks and Parchment
"Do you need anything in the way of Quills and Ink yourself?"
"Yeah," Lily replied, nodding. "I think some multicolored ink would be nice. Would work really well with my note-taking I think."
He snorted quietly, but not quiet enough to avoid drawing Lily's attention. "Shall we then?"
"Yeah. Let's."
They ventured into the store, with Severus heading straight for the section that sold mono-colored inks and raven-feathered quills, Lily meanwhile busied herself with perusing the expansive collection of multicolored inks that Scrawlabus' had on display. Lily ended up purchasing two tubs of standard black ink, two of navy blue and two of a multi-colored tub that varied between moss red, rose green and sky blue. Severus opted for a more mundane set of inks in two tubs each of black, navy blue and red. When they paid for their things and thanked the kind middle-aged woman behind the counter for their purchases, they headed out of the shop—inks in hand—and made their way towards the apothecary. They walked along the pavement that would lead them from the lane back to main street where the most-renowned apothecary in Massachusetts resided—standing tall amongst its neighbors in all its red-bricked and white-mortared glory.
As they navigated the crowd however, Severus couldn't quite help but notice that Lily's mood seemed to have soured in recent moments, and so he decided to ask just what was sucking the wind from her sails.
"Something's bothering you," Severus said concernedly. It wasn't a question, but a statement.
Lily looked at him, a slight frown creasing her brow, and her lips were pressed in a thin line. "It's nothing. Nothing serious…at least," she muttered.
"Yeah, nothing serious. Sure," Severus said sarcastically. "Seriously Lily, tell me what's bothering you. Please."
She heaved a long suffering sigh, and kicked at a grass beneath her feet frustratedly. "Someone called me a mudblood," she muttered, her voice so quiet Severus barely heard it.
What he did hear was the dejectedness and anger in her tone, and it quite nearly made him wince. It had been quite some time since Lily's explosive temper had made an appearance, and even longer since it'd been directed at him; and he felt that was certainly where Lily was headed should he not step in now.
"Who called you that…word?" Severus asked softly, his hand gripping her's just a little tighter.
Her anger seemed to abate, flowing from her in the form of a sigh, to be replaced by dejectedness. "One of Walters' and Abreu's lot. Those…Thunderbird boys, I think. I forget their names but that's what it sounded like.
Severus' lip curled. "Well their opinions and views don't mean jack, Lily. They're as dumb as a rock, there's a reason they ended up being Thunderbirds, all foolhardy and idiotic, they're bastards, so you shouldn't give a rat's arse about them."
Again, she sighed, but a ghost of a smile formed on her lips in lieu of it. "I know. It's just…I hate that…that even here, my blood is held against me. That…that even though we're away from all the turmoil back home, even here, my blood is still an issue." She sounded resigned, seemingly accepting of the fact that no matter where she went, her blood was still a point of contention.
"Blood purity exists everywhere Lily, it's just a matter of…of what people do to act on it. Those fuckers…their opinion doesn't matter. And to you it shouldn't either, nobody cares about them, and when we change the world, they'll rue the day they scorned us."
"Us?" Lily echoed, peering up at him curiously. the light may have been playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw tears in her eyes. He hoped they were borne of happiness, not misery.
"A slight against you, is a slight against me," Severus said assuredly. "If you wish it, I'm all for turning around, marching into that store, and hexing the living daylights out of all of those bastards—" a vindictive grin settled on his formerly-passive features. "—In fact…come to think of it…that does sound like a good idea, perhaps a few bone-shattering curses will prevent them from—"
"No Sev, please. No. I appreciate the thought, really, I do. But it's just…well, as you said, it's just words. I don't care about those toe-rags any more than you do. They may be bastards, but…it's not worth it, they're not worth it."
Severus threw one last dirty look over his shoulder at the Scrawlabus' Inks & Quills, but sighed in acquiescence with Lily's wishes. "Fine. But if they bother you again, if they hurt you, even just words. You let me know, and we'll deal with them."
"Oh I wouldn't be opposed to that at all Sev," Lily replied, grinning toothily at him. "I just didn't think it'd be wise to be hexing people in public, off school grounds while underage, if you catch my drift."
"Perfectly," Severus answered, smiling back at her. For the time being at least, their words seemed to have been forgotten, and that was just fine by Severus. Lily was happy, and that was all that mattered. Later on however, once they were back within the walls of Ilvermorny, he vowed to himself that there would be hell to pay for those boys, for insulting Lily like that, and if Lily wanted to tag along and exact revenge alongside him, than that'd be all the better.
They arrived at the doors to the second tallest building on main street, the red-bricked Apothecary that looked to closely resemble a firehouse, in color and in material of construction. "Looks like we're here, and not a moment too soon, it seems," Severus remarked, peering into the building through a window.
"Yeah. Ready to pick up that cauldron then?"
Severus fished the coupon out of his trouser pocket, and showed it to Lily with a smile.
When they pushed open the front door, the sharp smell of brass, copper and pewter met their nostrils; which was to be expected given that the ground floor of the store was stocked with cauldrons and brewing accessories whilst, the second and third were used with potion ingredients. From where they stood though, all they could see was an assortment of cauldrons of all sizes and materials stacked to the ceiling.
"Wow," Lily breathed, her eyes eagerly taking in their surroundings with avid interest. "There's just so many! Which one do you wanna pick?"
"A brass and copper one of course," Severus replied, glancing up and down the rows of cauldrons, "but as for which one in particular…well, I just don't know yet."
Lily nodded. "Do you mind if I check out upstairs? I think the uh…the plant and animal based, ingredients are stored up there. You could always pass me your list of things you need and I could get them for you if you like," she offered.
"You'd do that?" Severus asked.
"O' course!" Lily said assuredly.
"Well in that case—" Severus reached into his trouser pocket and withdrew a small piece of parchment—which listed the ingredients he needed to stock up on for his own private stores. "—Here you go then, Lily. Thanks," he set the parchment in her hands and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze of gratitude.
"Anytime." She leaned up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I'll meet you back down here then?" Lily asked. She took a few steps away from him towards the stairs.
"Works for me," Severus agreed, smiling softly at her.
Lily nodded happily, then turned around and headed upstairs. Once Lily had gone, Severus turned his attention to the selection fo Cauldrons before him; he wasted no time finding the section for Brass and Copper Cauldrons, and began perusing the shelves for the best choice. Soon enough, he found a size two cauldron, made of mostly copper with a bit of brass thrown in, but was fitted with a pewter base that would in theory allow for better temperature regulation than a solely brass or copper cauldron would. One of the strong suits of Pewter cauldrons was regulation of temperature, in large part due to the fact that Pewter was a poorer conductor of heat than Copper or Brass was, this allowed for more precise, albeit slower-acting, temperature regulation.
Severus lifted the cauldron into his arms, it was weighty, but not overly so, and should be easy enough for a potioneer of Nicole's caliber to manage. He lugged the thing over to the counter, where an old man, with a worn smile greeted him.
"Hello young man. How may I help you today?" The old man asked.
"I'd like to purchase this Cauldron sir," Severus said respectfully, hoisting the heavy thing onto the counter.
"I see. That shall be thirty five Galleons and eleven Sickles."
"I have a coupon, sir. My…Potions Professor, Esmerelda Rosier, passed it to me," Severus said, holding out the coupon in his hand.
The old man frowned slightly and took the coupon from the boy's hand. "Ah. So you're mister Snape, then. Esme informed me that one of her students would be turning up with one of these—" he waved the coupon in his hand, "—sooner or later. In that case, your cauldron is free of charge, young man."
"How do you know Professor Rosier, sir?" Severus asked, cocking his head sideways.
The man smiled thinly, but it seemed more genuine than the previous one's he'd given him in time's past. "I was her mentor. She apprenticed under your's truly for her potions mastery," he said proudly.
Severus' eyebrows rose, and his eyes widened in surprise. "I see. Well don't let me take up any more of your time sir, I'll be on my way now. My friend is just upstairs picking out a—" the sound of footsteps growing louder met both of their ears' "—speaking of whom, I think she's just finished."
Sure enough, Lily appeared not a moment later, her arms laden with two paper bags that contained her purchases in one, and Severus' in the other. "Hey Sev, got your cauldron?"
"Indeed he has. How may I help you miss?" The man behind the counter replied, before Severus could get so much as a syllable out.
"Just these ingredients sir," Lily answered, plopping the two bags down on the counter.
"Of course," the man replied, reaching for the two bags and sifting through each one's ingredients to calculate their price. In the end, the price for Lily's and Severus' potions ingredients totaled seventeen galleons, one sickle and nine knuts. They paid for their halves in full, and thanked the man before leaving the shop.
"Nice guy, that Mister Barton," Lily remarked offhandedly as they stepped out of the shop and into the early afternoon air.
"Hmm, yes I suppose so," Severus agreed. "D'you know that he mentored Esmerelda?"
"He did?" Lily seemed rather surprised at Severus' statement, but then again so was he when Barton had told him of that.
"Yeah. And to be honest, Barton's name sounds kinda familiar now that I think about it. I think saw a few books with his name on them when were at Quincy Market that day. Remember when we had to go buy those books?"
Lily nodded.
"Yeah…I think I saw a Alexander Barton on a few of their covers, but then again I might be misremembering things."
"What do you mean though Sev? What's this guy's name on a book got to do with anything?" Lily asked, a bit of irritation creeping into her tone.
"What I'm saying, Lily, is that I'm not a Slytherin for nothing. If this guy is half as good a potioneer as I think he is, then it'd be great if established some form of communication with him. Hell, we might even end up apprenticing under him after we graduate if we play our cards right!"
Lily pondered the thought for a brief moment, biting her lip in consternation as numerous micro-expressions flittered over her face as she mulled over his words. After perhaps half a minute spent in deep-thought, a smile settled on her face, and her eyes shone brighter by degrees. "That's great Sev, I should've thought of that! If we could both get our masteries from a renowned potions master…the possibilities for us would be endless," she said excitedly.
"That was precisely my thinking," Severus replied, the beginnings of a smirk forming on his face.
Lily looked fully at him then, the light filtering in through the Oaks' branches catching her hair just so it now shone a bright crimson. "You know what they say Sev, great minds think alike," she reached up to his face and brushed a lock of hair away, her smile broadening as she stared into his eyes.
"The same is true of the other end of the spectrum. Case and point," he gestured between them both.
His self-deprecation earned him a few peals of laughter from Lily. Her entire body shaking with tremors of laughter, she fell into his side and let Severus wrap his arm around her. "Self deprecating really suits you well, Sev. Compliments your snark really nicely if you ask me," she chuckled amusedly.
"Well it's just about the only brand of humor I know…I suppose," Severus said thoughtfully. "That and insulting people, I guess, come most naturally to me."
Lily snorted in agreement. "I suppose we should try to track down Nicole and Thomas now, I'm sure lugging around that cauldron all day won't be too pleasant."
"Ah so you want to pawn it off to one of our friends then?" Severus asked wryly, his brow inching up his forehead.
"I guess you could say that," Lily agreed, grinning at him.
When they found Nicole, she was just coming out of a sweet shop with Thomas; upon finding her, they waved her over and Severus lifted the cauldron in his arms. Nicole's eyes widened in surprise, and she hurried over to them with Thomas dashing along after her. When she learned the cauldron in Severus' arms was for her, she thanked him profusely, hugging him, but stopping short of giving the flustered boy a peck on the cheek for Lily was eyeing her rather hawkishly. Before long though, it was time to return to Ilvermorny, and so the students started to congregate in the field where their Portkeys remained dormant for the time being. They gathered in their groups once more, and on the teachers' signal, grasped the portkeys, which then whisked over a hundred students and teachers back to Ilvermorny's Ceremony Hall in the blink of an eye.
Being called a derogatory word aside, an incident that was already beginning to fade from Lily's mind, both Severus and Lily had a remarkable time in Worcester, and definitely planned on returning later in the semester for their second trip. Beyond the material possessions they'd purchased, they also hoped to have an ally in Barton, and hoped to strike up a correspondence with the man soon.
A/N2: Thanks a lot for reading! Any polite feedback or criticism is welcome and appreciated. As I mentioned earlier, next two chapters will be back in Cokeworth, so the total chapter count for Year 4's probably gonna be around 7 or so, a bit higher than I'd have thought initially.