Chapter 23 Catching Up With An Old Friend

The following morning, Lily awoke with a pounding headache, yet felt more grateful than ever that she didn't have work today. As expected, Severus chewed her out for her 'absolutely abysmal decision-making abilities' as he put it, and lectured her on the dangers of alcohol poisoning and what drinking too much could do to someone, especially someone underaged. Severus knew better than most other fifteen year olds the danger of drinking too much, having seen it first hand with his father, he knew all about the sorry state people could enter should they drink too much. Needless to say, he had no desire to see Lily remotely like that in the future ever again. They quickly put the events of last night behind them however and moved on with their day; but Severus' message laid heavily on Lily's mind. She felt angry at herself, for having put herself through that, and for putting Severus in the uncomfortable position of her care-taker as well as making him relive his terrible memories of his drunken father.

As the summer wound on, Lily and Severus quickly put the events of that night behind them and turned their attention forward. Thankfully, neither Violet or Mark caught wind of what happened that night Cindy came over, and Lily's drunkenness remained a secret that only she, Severus and Cindy shared. In the wake of that incident however, Severus' attitude towards Cindy had most definitely soured and there was a certain frostiness in the way he addressed Cindy in all the future encounters they shared. Still, Cindy was courteous enough to him whenever they interacted at work, but Lily feared that her hopes of her two oldest friends becoming friends with each other were reduced to nil. The weeks trundled by, and Severus and Lily fell into the mundanity of what their summer was shaping up to be. Work three days a week, which really wasn't all that much in all honesty, and then either hanging out by the river lazing away the day, or working on their potions in the sanctuary of their back yard. Lily had met up with Cindy a few more times, but only on the days Severus was occupied with something.

All in all, their Summer was turning out to be quite mundane; that is, until one, dreary, midsummer afternoon.

It was a Thursday, so neither Severus nor Lily had a shift that day, and the rain was pouring down outside and lashing harshly on the roof overhead. Lily had made some sandwiches for herself, Severus and mum whilst the latter two toiled away in the backyard before the rain came pouring down. There had hardly been any warning, a distant rumble of thunder, but no accompanying visible flash of lightning was all that Severus and her mum had to warn them before the heavens opened up above them. Not even the weatherman had predicted the sudden, spontaneous thunderstorm, hence why Severus and mum were working outside in the garden at the time. After a quick change of clothes, Severus and her mum were now dry, and the trio were gathered around the kitchen table consuming the sandwiches Lily had prepared for them.

They could barely hear the faint, tapping noise at their window over the lashing of the sheets of rain and the booms of the distant claps of thunder. Only when the source of that tapping noise gave a low croon did Severus realize that there was someone, rather, something at the window that was begging to be let in and given respite from the rain. Severus quickly put his half-eaten corned-beef sandwich down, stood form his chair, and then undid the latch on the window to allow the rain-soaked tawny owl into the house. The poor thing was soaked through its coat, and was probably twice its usual weight owing to all the water stuck in its feathers. Lily quickly rose up from her chair too, and grabbed a bit of the cold-cut turkey in her sandwich for the shivering bird.

Severus brought the bird onto the kitchen counter and quickly untied the envelope attached to its leg. "I think it's Marlene's Tawny Owl," Severus said to Lily.

"Yeah, it is," Lily replied, standing by his side. "Can you feed him some of this turkey Sev? I'll go get a washcloth for him to dry him off."

"Sure," Severus said easily. "I think I'll get him some water to drink as well."

Lily put the bit of turkey in Severus palm, and moved over to the sink to get a dry washcloth. Thankfully, Marlene's bird wasn't too temperamental and accepted the turkey with a grateful hoot and a playful nip on the tip of Severus' fingers.

Lily came back with the washcloth and gently draped it over the owl's quivering body, the poor thing was absolutely drenched—so Lily carried the bird over to the radiator and switched it on. Lily continued to towel the bird, drying as much of the water as she could from its plumage as Severus opened the envelope and read the letter.

Hey Lil's,

My mum will be out of town this Sunday for two weeks, so I was hoping that you'd be free to meet up sometime then. Long story short, my Mum's heading over to America for the next two weeks, to meet with Aunt Esme; and she told my two older brothers to 'look out for me' while she was gone. Just between you and me though, I know they won't be doing that and'll give me have a free rein, don't let my mum know, of course!

So yeah, anytime during the next two weeks works for me and I hope to see you and Severus again soon. I've got some news for you, that I think should be told in person rather than over letter or floo-call or something like that. Write me back soon whether you want to meet up at your place or mine, either works.

Also, if you want to hang out with the rest of the girls too, do let me know, it's been quite some time since you've caught up with them, hasn't it? If you don't want to, that's also okay, but I thought you might want to considering it's been close to a year and a half since you've seen them last or thereabouts.

On another note, how was term? I hope your first year over there went well, and I've got something to tell you on that front as well. I hope to hear from you soon, and please do let me know what dates work best for you to hang out, and also if you'd rather come to my place with Severus, or for me to come to yours. As I said earlier, either works fine for me.

Write Soon!

Marley.

P.S. Say hi to Severus for me too please, I'd like to see the old grump too, if he's got time. Please don't tell him I called him that.

Severus finished reading Marlene's messily-scrawled letter and set it down on the kitchen top.

"What does the letter say, Severus?" Violet asked Severus.

"It's just a letter from Marlene asking if Lily would like to meet up with her," Severus droned. He folded the letter away neatly and tucked it back into the envelope for safe-keeping. "Supposedly…Marlene's mum has gone to America to visit Esmerelda for two weeks, and she wants to know if Lily and I would like to catch up in the time her mum is abroad."

"Oh? Is she visiting your professor about the school?"

"The letter is playing coy, but perhaps that might be what it's about," Severus muttered.

"Can you pass it here Severus?" Lily called from over by the radiator.

Severus passed her the letter, and then sat back down at his chair. His black eyes were fixed upon her, watching the numerous emotions passing over her face as she read through the letter's contents. When she'd finished, Lily folded the letter up and tucked it into the pocket of her corduroys. She looked up at Severus with a smile.

"So what do you think Sev? Have her over here? Or go to her place?" she asked, throwing a question of her own at him.

"You can go visit her if you'd like," Severus suggested, his business-like tone giving Lily a frown of confusion. "After all…it's clear she wants to invite your old friends over, and well…we both know what they think of me."

Gently, Lily stood from the floor and sat back down in her chair. "But don't you want to see her? We can invite her here if you'd—"

"With your other friends there? I don't think it likely," Severus interrupted with a firm look. "Now as I was saying, if you want to meet her, I'm not going to stop you, but considering that your old Gryffindor pals will be there, I certainly won't be in attendance."

Lily's mouth opened, but no words came out. Whatever it was that she wanted to say turned to dust and was blown to the wind under the intensity of Severus' glare.

"They may never have…gone after me like the…like the Marauders have, Lily," Severus spoke quietly, ice sliding off his tongue and freezing the crimson blood running through Lily's veins. "But if they were there, you can bet all the gold in Gringotts they were cheering them on and calling me Snivellus and goading Potter and Black on in their efforts to humiliate me. They relished in my torment, and if that's the sort of people you expect me to play house with then you're wrong, and you, frankly, ask too damn much of me." His eyes had narrowed into snake-like slits, and his nostrils were flared, clearly, he was anticipating her to retort, to respond and start a fight.

Violet stepped in before Lily had a chance to speak. "If what Severus says is true, Lily, then you'd best write to Marlene that either only you will go to her cottage to see her, or that she could come visit here on another day and come see Severus. I wouldn't mind seeing her again if you'd like to have her around," she said gently, warming the frosted air between them.

Severus still looked angry, and Lily now looked conflicted, like she didn't know what to do. Could she really blame him for simply, not wanting to see the people that goaded on his tormentors? Better yet, what did it mean that she was looking forward to seeing her old 'friends' again, despite knowing how they'd wronged Severus? She pulled her eyes away from his, letting her gaze drop to a flower on the tablecloth, and stared fixedly at that flower without shifting her gaze away. Severus clearly despised her old friends, the only reason that he even tolerated Marlene in the first place was because she'd always taken a neutral stance on the Marauders bullying him, never once goading them on or mocking him, and even urging them to stop a few times. But with Dorcas, Mary and Evelyn on the other hand…they actively took delight in what the Marauders did and they laughed along with the rest when Severus was humiliated by them. An angry snarl curled her lip, and all of a sudden, she was acutely aware of Severus' anger for them. It filled her up like a crimson tide and she began to see red when she thought of her old friends and what they meant to Severus, to her.

No. No I can't see them. Especially when I asked Sev not to associate with his old friends…what would that make me if I were to do the same? A hypocrite, that's what. I can't see my old friends again, I shouldn't even want to! Not after how they've wronged Sev and how I've turned a blind eye to it…No. My answer is no.

"You're right Severus…you're right," Lily admitted after a long period of silence. "I'd still like to go visit Marlene though, Sev, I still want to do that. But I'll write her that I don't want the rest of my former dorm mates to come along too."

She was careful to avoid calling them friends, because when she really thought about it now, they were decidedly, not friends of her's. It was bad enough that they were calling for her to drop Severus and leave her friendship with him behind in the dust, that alone was enough of an offense to her and to her first friend in the wonderful world of magic; but they didn't stop there, they actively liked the fact that Potter and the rest always enjoyed getting a rise out of Severus and making his life miserable.

"I'm glad that you finally see reason," Severus drawled, throwing Lily a sardonic look.

"I'd still like to see her too, so how about you write Marlene that you'd like to see her, give her a date, and then also say she's welcome here for a night or two if she wished to stay over or something like that," Mum added.

"Sure Mum, I'll write her right away then," Lily said, her mood lightened. She pushed back from the table, then set her plate down in the dishwasher and headed upstairs to go write a letter to her friend.

Lily wrote Marlene later that day, but only when the rain had died down and her tawny owl had rested up enough and purged the water from its coat. Lily said that she was eager to see Marlene again, but asked that their reunion just be the two of them with none of Lily's old roommates. She also proposed Marlene herself coming to Cokeworth later on in the summer so she could catch up with Violet and Severus. Two days later, she received a reply from Marlene, saying that she'd be happy to come to Cokeworth and that she looked forward to seeing Lily soon at McKinnon Cottage.

Marlene and Lily arranged to meet on the fourteenth of July at McKinnon Cottage, which was situated on the outskirts of Coventry. Neither Lily nor Severus had work that day so there weren't any scheduling commitments they had to meet, and Marlene had ensured that her older brother Douglas would be on hand to help apparate Lily to the cottage. On the morning of the fourteenth, Lily rose bright and early under the warming light of the rising summer sun, and to the tune of twittering songbirds; it was a beautiful day, and for once, Lily wasn't even groggy or remotely tired when waking early. She showered, taking her time to do up her hair and even put on a little bit of makeup, she then dressed in a floral-patterned, blue and yellow summer dress and some sandals to go with them.

Satisfied with her appearance, Lily smiled to herself one last time in the mirror, then headed out of the bathroom downstairs for breakfast. To her surprise, her father was up, and was in the midst of making himself a bowl of cereal when Lily came down the stairs.

"Hello Lily-flower," dad greeted, smiling fondly at her. "You're going to Marlene's place today, aren't you?"

"Morning dad," Lily chirped cheerily. "Her mum's out of town so she invited me over to visit today. Her brother'll be coming by later to pick me up and help apparate me there. I won't get to learn until the year after next unfortunately."

"Hmm…so that's why you're all dressed up then," Dad remarked glancing over at his youngest daughter briefly, as he poured himself a cup of breakfast tea. He carried the cup and saucer over, set it down by his bowl, then sat in his usual chair.

"Yeah," Lily said, smiling and nodding at him. "D'you think I look nice?"

Dad's broad smile gave her all the confidence she needed, and she felt her smile grow as a result. "You look wonderful Lily-flower. I'm sure that if Severus were here, he'd be seeing stars," he said confidently.

A faint blush rose on Lily's pale cheeks, but she took the compliment in stride and smiled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence dad. It's a shame Sev doesn't want to come today though, oh well…Marlene'll be coming by sometime next week though, Mum said it's okay if she comes by on Wednesday for Lunch and tea."

"I'm fine with it. And today's weather should be good too so hopefully you and Marlene can enjoy yourselves a bit given all this dreadful weather we've had recently."

Lily's face soured at her father's words, giving her an unpleasant reminder of the sorry state of affairs Western England's weather had been the past few days. Rain, rain, and yet more rain had plagued Cokeworth and its nearby larger cities in Birmingham and Manchester. Today was supposed to be a good day though, better than the last week at least, according to the weather man.

"I think it should be fine in Coventry daddy, hopefully Marlene's had better weather over there than we've had here."

"I hope so too, for your sake, that is," dad replied. "And hopefully the weatherman's correct today and it doesn't rain here either. I think Mum and Severus wanted to work on the back garden today, Petunia too, if I'm not mistaken."

This was news to Lily and something Severus had definitely neglected to inform her of, she arched a brow of curiosity as she took a sip of her tea. "Really? Sev's helping out in the garden, is he?"

"Indeed I am." Came a third voice from the downstairs hallway. The owner of that third voice soon made his appearance in the kitchen, dressed in his gardening clothes and ready to get started as soon as he finished breakfast. Between Lily's dolled-up appearance, clearly having gone the extra mile to style her hair into a neat, little bun, and even appropriate a bit of Petunia's makeup; Severus' mountain man-type look made for quite an interesting contrast between them. He wore a gardening shirt, heavy trousers, and gardening boots as well, and in his hand were a pair of gardening gloves.

"Mum 'n you'll be working in the garden today then? You certainly look ready to hit the ground running," Lily remarked dryly, her green eyes lazily dragging up and down his body.

"As do you," Severus noted with an equally dry response, wearing a small smirk. "I take it you're heading off as soon as Marlene's brother gets here?"

"In about half an hour's time, yes."

"Hmm…and when'll you be getting back?" dad asked.

"In time for dinner dad, don't worry. Marlene's brother'll drop me off back here," Lily answered swiftly.

"Good." Dad took a long draw from his cup, draining the tea within in a single gulp, then set the empty cup down with a loud sigh. "Well I'd best be off now. I'll see you all later tonight. Have a good day you two."

"You as well Mark, have a good day at work," Severus said sincerely.

"Bye dad, have a good day."

Dad left soon thereafter, stepping out in the warm, mid-morning sunshine. The low thrum of the V8 Motor within the Cuda heralded his departure as he sped off down Walnut Lane into town. When Douglas appeared half an hour later, Severus bade goodbye to Lily, and she departed with Marlene's older brother via side-along apparation to Coventry, where McKinnon Cottage was located on a windy hilltop. So while Severus toiled away with Violet in the garden of 16 Walnut Lane, Lily was confronted with the exciting prospect of seeing her old friend Marlene again after many months apart. Douglas walked her up the front door, then gave the Muggleborn witch a kind wave and apparated away. McKinnon cottage wasn't large by any reasonable standard, but it was homely, and it most certainly did have a lot of space. It rested on the top of a gently sloping hill, with large clearings surrounding the cottage on all sides sloping away to a forest at the base of the hill. Protected by Muggle-repelling charms, it served as the McKinnon's little sanctuary while conveniently being just a stone's throw away from the Muggle city of Coventry.

Compared to the smoky, constricting atmosphere of Cokeworth, McKinnon Cottage was like a breath of fresh air—hardly a cloud in the sky and not even a hint of pollution for miles around. Aside from the bricked structure in front of her, only nature existed as far as the eye could see.

Lily walked up to the bright blue door and rapped her knuckles on the surface. She recognized Marlene's shout on the other side, as a gust of wind blew past her, tussling her hair slightly. The door swung open, and in the frame stood her old friend.

"Hiya Lil's," Marlene beamed, she stepped out of the doorframe and hugged the redhead tightly before she even had a chance to reply.

"Oof!—It's good to see you too Marlene," Lily choked out as her friend's fierce hug abated.

"Come on in!" Marlene said eagerly, tugging Lily by the wrist into the house. "I just saw Dorcas and Eve off an hour ago so we've got the place to ourselves now!"

Lily stepped through the doorframe, now wary of their surroundings. "Dorcas and Eve were here?" she asked quietly as she followed Marlene through the McKinnons' front foyer and into the adjoined hallway.

"Yeah. James and Sirius were here yesterday too, but it's no secret what you think of them Lil's so I wouldn't subject you to that," Marlene teased.

Lily shot her a withering scowl, one that would've made even Severus proud. "Har har, very funny," she said sarcastically. "I guess you had a slumber party last night then?" she asked with feigned disinterest.

"Yeah," Marlene smiled. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, as a half-smile, half-grimace of sorts formed on her face. "And um…well I know you said you didn't want to meet with them, and I respected your wishes, Lil's, Dorcas and Eve have left now…but they still wanted to reach out so they both left letters for you."

Lily couldn't quite hide the intrigue on her face, she hadn't even been sure Dorcas and Eve even wanted to reach out to her.

"Can you show me?" she asked Marlene.

"Sure. Just follow me to the drawing room, I'm pretty sure they either left them there or in my bedroom," Marlene said.

Lily followed the pureblooded witch through the hallway that lead from the entrance foyer to the drawing room at the rear of the house. Numerous moving pictures lined the walls of Marlene, her two older brothers Douglas and Colin, and her parents and grandparents too. The McKinnons were red and gold-blooded Gryffindors through and through—and the crimson, blue and gold wallpaper certainly reflected that. Even Bethesda McKinnon nee Rosier, Marlene's mum, had been a Gryffindor, going against Rosier family tradition to be sorted into the house of lions. Entering the McKinnons' drawing room, which was situated at the far end of the hallway from the Foyer, Lily was surprised at just how the bright the room was with its towering windows and warm, inviting color scheme. It seemed to be one of the few rooms in the house that wasn't Gryffindor-colored. Beyond the bright colors and the ample sunlight shining in through the glass, the room was really spacious, just how Lily remembered it to be from when she'd first visited McKinnon cottage after her first year.

"Ah here they are," Marlene remarked as she and Lily entered the sun-lit room. She marched straight over to the dining table and picked up a couple letters off the surface. She handed them to Lily, who accepted them kindly. To Marlene's surprise however, Lily made no move to read them. She merely skimmed over the cover, verifying that the two letters were indeed from Dorcas and Mary, and then tucked the two pieces of parchment into her handbag.

"You're not going to read them?" Marlene asked, glaring at the two letters so harshly one would assume they'd offended her.

"I'll save them for when I'm home, I think," Lily replied. "But if they want to get in touch again, I suppose that might be alright, only if they apologize to Sev though. Otherwise, I won't entertain it."

"Yeah, I suppose that's fair," Marlene surmised. "They do miss you though Lil's, it's been like what, a year and a half since you've last seen them, right?"

"I think so." Lily plopped down onto the sofa, Marlene sat next to her on the other end. "And I'd be lying if I said I don't want my old friends back," she admitted, with an expression of suppressed longing. "But I can't do that in good conscience unless they apologize to Sev and me. At times…they were just as bad as the Marauders were to him, even used the foul nickname they coined," she said bitterly.

"I never was appreciative of that," Marlene added solemnly. "But that's enough about them, how are you? How is Severus? Did you two have a great first year?"

Lily's smile widened. "Well, now that you've asked…"

For the next few hours, the girls talked and talked and talked about anything and everything that crossed their minds. Lily told Marlene all about her year in Ilvermorny, well, more so all the things that had happened in the second half of the year, Marlene was already well versed with the goings-on in Lily's first term abroad thanks to their meet up over the winter break. To Lily's surprise, Marlene revealed that the changes at Hogwarts had accelerated in the second term of her fourth year. After viewing Severus' five memories all the way back when Lily announced her's and Severus' withdrawal halfway through their third year, the Headmaster had made strides to foster greater cross-house co-operation and unity. Lily supposed it was nice to hear of her old school changing things around, even if it was of no consequence to her. Marlene's contributions to the house quidditch team had helped them bring home the Quidditch cup, something Lily felt a swell of pride over. Quidditch culture wasn't as strong at Ilvermorny, and while she and Severus usually watched Sandra's games for Horned Serpent, neither could say they felt much passion for the sport. Severus had already been quite taken with the Muggle game of basketball.

A couple hours of chatting later, Lily and Marlene headed outside into the bright, mid-afternoon sunshine and took their lunch out on the McKinnons' back porch. The McKinnons had a house elf named Poofy, who made them some minced pies at Marlene's request.

As they ate their minced pies, Lily was silently working up the courage to ask Marlene something she'd been itching to all day, but had been rather nervous about.

"Marlene, can I…ask you a sort of…sensitive question?" Lily posed tentatively.

Marlene raised her hand, asking Lily to hold her question for the moment. She chewed, then swallowed her last bite of pie, and finally turned to Lily. "Go for it," she said easily.

"Have you…done anything?" Lily asked in a quiet, but curious voice. Her green eyes were trained on the ground, unable to meet her friend's brown ones, as a blush rose up on her pale cheeks. "As in…well…you know, have-you-done-anything-with-Black?"

"Done what?" Marlene asked confusedly, her head cocked sideways. She leaned forward in her deck chair, throwing her friend an odd look. "Do you mean—ah! Oh, I get it! You want to know if Sirius and I have done anything like that!"

Lily's face was as red as a cherry tomato, and she still couldn't meet the teasing eyes of her best friend. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Well of course we have," Marlene said, smirking. "Why would you like to know? You want to give ole' Sevvie a 'good time' eh, Lily?" the salacious winks Marlene gave her caused Lily to blush even more furiously.

"You don't even need to answer!" Marlene chortled, her merry laughter almost causing her to fall out of her chair. "Your blush tells me more than words ever could, my sweet, innocent Lily. Why of course, I've done things with Sirius. We haven't done oral yet, but we've seen each other naked and I've jerked him off and he's gotten me off too. We've been thinking about—"

"Okay, okay, okay, that's too much. I regret asking this now, please stop," Lily said uncomfortably. "I didn't need to know all that."

"Nah you didn't, I agree. But it was funny seeing you flustered like that. I'd have thought you wouldn't get as flustered as you just were, that's something I'd expect out of Mary, or Severus, not you!"

A vein throbbed in Lily's forehead as she leaped up and said; "Well I've never done this before! I was just…well I was hoping you could give me advice on…broaching that gap, you know?"

"Well, it's simple," Marlene said loudly, as if the matter was of little consequence. "Are you attracted to him? Sexually that is?"

Lily nodded furiously. "I've felt his…well his…you know his, um, his—it was pressed up against me, and I…well it certainly felt good, and hot too."

"Well, there you go," Marlene said, clapping her hands together as if Lily had just solved a difficult Arithmancy question. "He clearly has the hots for you, anyone with a brain can see that. And you've just proved you've got the hots for him! So, the next time you feel his prick like that, I dunno, when you're making out or something, then bring it up, it's simple!"

Lily bit her lip and nodded slowly, the cogs and gears of her brain churning as she processed her best friend's words. "A-alright, then. Thanks, Marley."

"Anytime," Marlene replied, grinning good-naturedly. "Now is there anything else you want to ask me, dear Lil's?"

"There is actually," Lily said, smiling brightly. She turned over in her seat and turned to face her friend. "Have you made up your mind for next year? Will you be coming to America with Sev and I?"

Marlene leaned back in her deck chair and sighed. The sun beat down on Marlene's tanned skin, as the girl contemplated telling Lily what she'd known for quite some time. "I will be joining Ilvermorny," Marlene said at long last. "But only for my sixth year. I want to get my OWLs first, and then I'll transfer after fifth year to join you and Severus. My mum's been quite insistent about it."

She rolled over onto her side, meeting Lily's gaze. "Dorcas, Evie and Mary already knew…but I wanted to wait to tell you in person, Lil's. And once I'm done, I want to come back here and fight You-Know-Who."

"You do?" Lily whispered, shocked at her friend's statement.

"Yes," Marlene said solemnly. "His followers killed my father after all, and nearly killed my two brothers a few months ago. I have to stand up to them too, follow in my family's footsteps. Mum's tried to dissuade me but I've already made up my mind on it."

"I want to fight him too," Lily said, her tone stiff with resolve. "B-but Sev doesn't want to get involved. He just wants to get his mastery in Potions after we graduate in a few years time and start a business. To be honest Marley, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do after school either, but the only thing I do know is that in some shape or form, I want to oppose You-Know-Who and help prevent his rise to power as well."

"I knew there was a little Gryffindor left in you," Marlene chuckled, smiling fondly over at her.

"Well, I was sorted there for a reason," Lily laughed.

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you were. Speaking of Gryffindor, will you be writing the girls assuming you like what they've said in their letters?"

"I suppose so. I am willing to forgive and forget if they're genuine and actually do want to make amends, then sure. I'd be lying to you if I said I don't miss them at times."

"They've said the same to me as well, Lil's," Marlene said truthfully. "And I think the letters you've got in your handbag will reflect that. They really would like to get in touch, and Dorcas too is thinking about joining the fight against You-Know-Who."

"Really?" Lily asked in surprise.

This was news to Lily. Dorcas was usually a mild-mannered and rather quiet girl. She could get rather rowdy when the Marauders were up to no good, much to Lily's disappointment—she usually chalked this up to the girl's rather obvious crush on one James Potter. Hearing that she too wanted to fight You-Know-Who, despite not excelling in Defense, or even Charms was a surprise to Lily.

"Dorcas wants to fight then, who'd've thought it. I didn't think the old girl had it in her."

"Me neither to be honest, not until she told me she was deadly serious about joining the Aurors after graduating," Marlene laughed. "Says she wants to make the world a safer place for her mother to live in. Considering she's a halfblood I suppose it makes sense."

"I can't fault her for that," Lily agreed.

"Mmm." Marlene took a long gulp of her lemonade, then set her empty cup down on the glass-topped table between herself and Lily. "Have you put any thought into how you want to fight You-Know-Who, Lil's?" Marlene asked.

Lily appeared to ponder the question for a brief moment, her silence and reflective expression representative of that.

"I don't really know Marley," Lily confessed. "I do know I want to oppose him, You-Know-Who, that is. But as for how…I don't know. Maybe by like…by making potions or something, or maybe even healing or spell-crafting…something like that maybe—" the redhead shrugged and expelled a quiet sigh, "I still don't know. All I know is that I don't want him to win."

Marlene hummed thoughtfully. She rolled onto her back and stared up into the clouds as she mulled over Lily's statement.

"That doesn't make me a coward, does it?" Lily asked, uncomfortable with her friend's silence.

"What?" Marlene blurted out, shocked and dumbfounded at Lily's words. "Why in the name of Godric would you say that? How can choosing to oppose ole' Moldy-shorts in any way be considered cowardly, Lil's?"

"Because I wouldn't actually be fighting him," Lily muttered quietly. "Sev's kinda talked me into this, I'll admit. He said there's other ways to oppose You-Know-Who beyond throwing spells and fighting his Death Eaters directly."

"Well he's right about that," Marlene said firmly. "And Merlin that's not something I say about Severus often, you should know that better than anyone…but he's right. There's loads of ways you can oppose him, and if spell-crafting is what you want to do then go for it Lil's! The Aurors could always use new tracking spells or detection or revealing, or even combat spells to gain the upper hand on Moldy-shorts."

To Marlene's relief, Lily seemed inspired by her little display. "I think that's what I'll do then," she said. "Of course…that means I'll have to miss out on my Potions Mastery dreams, and Sev'll have to go on without me and become a Potions Master himself, but becoming a Charms Mistress ought to be pretty useful in the years to come."

"Absolutely."

Lily looked over at her friend, only to be met with the sight of her smiling with pride, and radiating positivity and confidence like the sun did light.

"One day when I'm an Auror, I'll hope to try out your creations myself, Lil's. I know you'll be great."

Lily hoped she'd be great too. She knew Severus would be, she'd borne witness to his undeniable talent and incomparable work ethic enough times to think otherwise. She could only hope that she'd be able to live up to his future-legend too.

A few hours later, Lily bade goodbye to Marlene, and took the floo to Manchester, where one of the nearest public floo locations was located. From there, she hoped on a train into Cokeworth where her mother picked her up at the station. Alas, the pleasant, balmy sunshine of the morning had been supplanted by low-hanging nimbus clouds, and soupy-grey skies.

She'd made plans to meet up again with Marlene in Cokeworth a few weeks from then and had that to look forward to, and she had her letters from her friends to read. She only hoped Severus would be accepting if she were to reach out to her ex-roommates, provided they were willing to apologize for how they'd wronged not just her, but Severus as well.

A/N: Lily's beginning to build a picture of what she wants to do in the coming war, but she most definitely doesn't want to stay on the sidelines. Will she align with Dumbledore? Or will she help in her own way? Will she even be fighting in the field at all? Time will tell, and Severus hasn't given all of his 2c on the matter himself. I briefly debated having Lily and Severus be neutral in the coming war, but I felt it would be too disingenuous to their characters and so they will be involved in some capacity. Also, Marlene's future attendance at Ilvermorny will shake things up a bit for Year Six, but for this coming year the focus will remain fixedly on Severus and Lily.

Next chapter will be the first official M-rated chapter, and also the last of their summer holiday, and then the next 6-7 after that will be their fifth year. Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed!