Poof! In a puff of smoke I appear!
Big thanks to my readers and reviewers as always.
There's been some changes in my life recently. I was hired as a substitute teacher for a daycare, which means more money and more financial stability!
Huzzah for another chapter! This one is going to be pretty mild and mundane for the most part.
Enjoy!
If Someone Cared Enough
Chapter Twenty: Visiting Mary
Sunlight shined down on the Evans home on peaceful morning, peering through the curtains of Lily's window and bathing her in a warm glow. Squinting as the light hurt her eyes; Lily rolled over and put her back to the window, adjusting her book to continue reading.
Lily couldn't exactly say she was typically a morning person, but she loved the quiet early morning brought. Normally a deep and late sleeper back at Hogwarts, she hadn't realized how nice the peaceful still was of a house before everyone awoke for the day. There was no thumping in the halls, no telly showing the morning news, no one laughing at the comics in the paper. The kitchen was empty so the clatter and clamor of dishes and pans was nonexistent at this hour. Without Petunia making breakfast and their mother cleaning the house, the silence was almost a meditative one, even reverent.
Lily had come to enjoy these early morning retrospectives ever since she began cuddling in Severus's bed each night. Every morning before anyone else woke up, Lily would rise to Severus's alarm clock and creep back to her own bed, the sheets slightly chilled from being uninhabited through the night. To ensure no one stumbled upon their nightly ritual and got the wrong impression, this had become their routine.
And misunderstand they would; if the girls at school knew she was sharing a bed with a boy, they would certainly jump to the wrong conclusion. Her dormmates were notoriously boy crazy since they hit their teens so it was safe to say they would instantly assume something scandalous was afoot.
If McGonagall knew where she spent her nights—Talk about being scandalized.
Lily clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles.
Being a late sleeper for as long as she could remember, one would think Lily would prefer to snuggle into her blankets and return to the land of slumber she left when she snuck out of Severus's room. Normally, they would be right; how tempting it was to cozy up and sleep in another hour or two before breakfast. However, recent events had, unfortunately robbed Lily of such a privilege.
Side by side with Severus, Lily slept like the dead usually. Limbs thrown akimbo around Severus's taller frame, she'd sprawl limp and dead weight in her sleep, her slumber dreamless or at the very least devoid of nightmares. The scent of Severus's hair, the warmth of his body, and the security of his embrace all combined to make for the most delightful sleep she'd had in years.
But alone…
In her own bed, Lily wasn't cradled in the gentle embrace of a dreamless slumber. No sandman came to her window and sprinkled soothing golden dust over her head to aid her in wonderful dreams of enchantment. No, instead, what went on in her resting mind was much, much more unsettling.
She was often running, running from something she could not see but somehow knew was there. Trapped in a narrow hallway, she'd weaved in between faceless bodies that stood rooted to the spot and cared not for her plight or could not see nor feel her as she shoved her way past. She always found the doors lining the hall locked, unyielding to her frantic tugs. The doors all had windows, but when she banged on them, the faceless beings sitting on the other side did not react, did not come to her aid.
And when the thing that pursued her finally caught up…one shudders to dwell on what always happened next.
Therefore, Lily no longer answered the beckoning call of sleep when she returned to her own bed; she dared not risk it.
Instead, she would busy her time enjoying relaxing activities, reading a book or reviewing her summer homework. She'd doodle little drawings in an old sketch book her Great Aunt had bought her or watch the birds. A finch had made its home in the birch tree right outside her window and tended to stand on her windowsill peering in inquisitively like a feathery little voyeur. Of course, the second she approached, the tiny thing would let out a tweet of panic and fly off to chirp angrily at her from the safety of its nest.
Bird antics aside, reading was really Lily's favorite thing to do in the morning. Ever since she started Hogwarts as a first year, most of her time with books had to do with research or classwork, thick heavy tomes laden with information she needed to sniff out and turn into practical work or lengthy essays.
It wasn't like Lily had a problem with this though, goodness no. She loved to learn and sucked up any new tidbit of knowledge like a sponge. However, with all the books available to her in Hogwarts library being of the educational persuasion, oftentimes Lily neglected the fictional tales she once loved.
At home, Lily's shelves were full of fairytales and folk stories her parents had taught her as a young child. Tales of princesses in faraway places and creatures living in enchanted castles once filled her head and her afternoons. Epic adventures carried out by knights in shining armor or wayward children finding houses made of candy gave new life to her imagination and sat at the forefront of her dreams.
Of course, Lily was all but living a fantasy now as a witch going to school in a castle, but that didn't mean she no longer cared for her stories. They brought with them a nostalgic feeling of home and love, of late nights curled beside her mother, as she read to her daughters in that kind, loving voice.
Stories tended to be more free-spirited and carefree, if Lily was being honest. She may travel to a fantastic castle and turn teacups into mice, but being a part of the wizard world brought with it a whole new slew of responsibilities and unpleasantness she once shied away from by burying her nose in a good storybook. Amidst worrying some and exhausting exams every year and the risk of getting oneself blown up by a cauldron or ill-cast spell, there also resides the sinister underbelly of old world magic.
People stooped in age-old traditions founded on bigotry still lurked in just about every corner of the magical world. They were anti-muggle fascist groups razing quiet country sides in a wave of curses and intimidation. They were the ministry's very own politicians, signing in new laws to strip rights away from werewolves or goblins, all under the guise of 'protecting' children or society. Centaurs never did recover from what old Greek myths did to their reputation; now cast as lustful, vicious beasts that would steal away with terrified women in the night.
Lily almost preferred her storybooks now. In them, the evil was obvious and upfront and people never questioned their actions as being harmless or beneficial. There was no debate on whether that evil brought up 'valid points', on whether they were simply trying to protect the old ways. Everyone recognized the harm the villain caused and all but leaped with joy when a brave hero came along to slay it.
In stories, the hero vanquished the evil on an epic journey. It left the hero with new friends, new skills, and a lifetime of happiness and good fortunes…in real life, if the fight against You-Know-Who ended up going the way her friends were predicting, then it would only end after both sides had suffered insurmountable losses, grueling battles, and countless deaths.
The sound of a door opening pulled Lily from her thoughts. It was quiet in the halls, then a door closed again and feet could be heard padding down the carpeted hallway, the door to the bathroom closing shortly after. After a moment, the shower turned on. Sev was officially up for the day.
Lily rolled onto her back and listened to the gentle hum of the shower spray coming from across the hall. She was lucky things had worked out with Sev, she thought. The very idea that she could have been spending this summer alone, not once seeing him smile or hearing his rarely heard laugh caused a hollow sensation in the pit of her stomach.
Lily thought back to their final weeks of school. She had been so hell bent on never forgiving him, on finally listening to her friends and cutting ties. Partially, it was due to her growing concern for Severus's so called friends and their influence on him, but she could admit to herself that much of it had been her just seeking an excuse to appease her other friends and end their constant nagging.
For years she put up with the nonstop stream of advice, them always questioning her reasoning and filling her head with countless stories of the evils of Slytherin. It was unnatural, they said, for anyone to love the Dark Arts as much as Severus did. He was creepy, he was weird, he was unkind; all these reasons and more they threw at her on a regular basis. A part of her had grown sick of it all and, though she was ashamed to admit it, a larger part of her craved their approval, their recognition of her strengths and talents. It matter to her so much that their constant questioning of her sanity when it came to her ties to Severus had become so weary and tiresome she was desperate to shut them up. So when the opportunity to rose to walk away from a friend she no longer could recognize as the boy she met all those years ago, she jumped on it.
Lily shifted in bed, a guilty grimace overtaking her face. Absentmindedly, she picked at a blemish on her arm.
It had hurt to turn Severus away. Truly, it had. For days afterwards she had been a ghost of her former self, putting on a convincing yet fake smile for her friends and carrying around Severus's absence at her side like a phantom limb. To comfort herself, she clung to her friend's congratulations, their praises of her for having 'wised up'. She practically preened under their renewed attention to her strengths instead of her flaws.
Now that she thought on it, perhaps it was a good thing she didn't typically make many female friends. They seemed to have an influence on her that only heightened her vanity and weakened her convictions, too caught up in their gossip and pettiness. In truth, if they were as good friends as Lily thought they were, they would have respected her choices, picked at her less for it, and certainly wouldn't have spent the evening after the lake incident celebrating while doling out insincere apologies as she mourned the loss of a friend.
Mary was really the only girl she truly called a friend. The others, they were friends in that they were people she could tolerate and share the occasional laugh with. Associating with them meant belonging and a sense of oneness with others, but she didn't really see them as the sort of people she would go out of her way to spend time with outside of school. Alice had been a close and true friend, but being older than Lily, she graduated shortly after they established a true connection, though the Auror in training still did write. So that left her with Mary as the only girl she was actually and honestly friends with at school.
Mary never judged Lily's choices in friends or anything else. Though it was apparent she never approved of Severus, she kept her opinions to herself. Mary had one of those "you're a big girl; sort out your own life' sort of attitude and she tended to avoid sticking her nose in the business of others. Calm and collected, Mary let Lily vent to her when Severus and she had a row, and Mary never offered anything more than a simply sorry for things not going right. Never did Mary take advantage of Lily's anger to try to convince her to ditch Sev, as the other girls had. When Lily would reason out why she was friends with Sev and point out all the good in him, Mary would be her soundboard, listening quietly and telling Lily that she shouldn't fret over what others think of her choices.
She wasn't necessarily nice to Sev, but she was never cruel. Mary was more…indifferent to Severus than anything. Yes, she avoided insulting him when others got on Lily's case listing his faults, but she also ignored the attacks he suffered at the hands of the Marauders. She ignored the good and bad when it came to Severus, but she at least she was never actively tried to hurt him.
Even when Mulciber's attack left Mary with an anger and dislike of nearly anything Slytherin, she never used her experience as a ploy to manipulate Lily into leaving Severus. She didn't belittle or berate Lily for associating with a Slytherin. Instead, she warily but quietly regarded the odd friendship with an air of caution, like she was hoping that by some chance Sev would not show himself to be just as bad as the others.
Now that Sev had effectively swooped in and saved Lily and Mary both, Mary was all too willing to give him her stamp of approval. Whether he had known Mary was there or not, he protected her just as much as he had Lily when he rushed in and distracted Mulciber and Avery. Now Mary was less concerned about Lily's friendship with Sev and more concerned with Severus returning to a dorm room full of possible enemies, if her last letter was anything to go by.
At least now, Lily had Mary to back her up at school when the other girls got back on her case about Severus, as they were sure to do. Yes, by the time they returned it would most likely be all over school that Severus had saved her from his housemates, but teens could be fickle. It wouldn't surprise Lily if some students clung to their own beliefs about Slytherins and Severus or invented some elaborate story about how Severus had somehow planned the attack in order to get back on her good side. It certainly seemed like something James or Sirius would do. Unlike those two, Lily trusted Sev; the look of pure horror in his eyes had been evidence enough for her when he walked into that train compartment.
Now Lily had Mary on her side with her full support, so anyone who tried to question her renewed friendship with Sev was going to hear where they could stick their opinion straight away.
Lily and Sev were actually due to visit Mary that very afternoon. Coerced into accepting the Macdonald's invitation, Severus had made it clear to Lily that she had to accompany him; he would not be the sole focus of attention with his piss poor ability to socialize.
Lily giggled, imagining Sev attempting a casual conversation with Mary's mother. 'The weather's lovely, isn't it?' 'Oh yes, Mrs. Macdonald. Very…fresh…' She could just picture Sev, sitting there awkwardly. Moreover, heaven forbid Mary's father ask Severus about any sport!
Lily smiled, stretching her arms out over her head and arching her back to get the kinks out. Yes, today should be a fun day.
{page break}
"How's your tea, Severus dear," Miriam, Mary's mother asked kindly.
"Fine, ma'am," Severus replied quietly.
"Are you sure you don't need me to warm it back up for you?" Miriam asked.
"No, ma'am, it's quite fine," Severus assured her.
They had been at the Macdonald's home for around an hour and a half so far and it appeared to be going rather well. They had welcomed Severus into their home with much enthusiasm, Miriam going so far as to pull Severus into a hug when he first arrived. The look on his face made it all the more difficult for Lily and Mary to contain they laughter.
Miriam was a plump woman of average height with short, brown hair that curled around her chin. Rosy cheeked and dimpled, she had a warm, motherly smile and often smelled of butterscotch or any other assortment of sweets, most likely from her line of homemade baked good scented candles.
Mary's father, Walter Macdonald was a hulking, muscular man with broad shoulders and arms thicker than a person's head, which made for a ridiculous spectacle in the array of sweater vests Walter favored wearing. His blond hair was cut close to his scalp and thick, bushy mustache sat above his upper lip. Never without a tie, the accountant managed to pull off an air of professionalism despite how the bulging muscles rippling under his shirt gave him a dumb jock appearance.
All in all the pair were a lovely, pleasant couple. Laughter came easy for them and their friendliness was always genuine, never feigned. Most eager to meet their daughter's rescuer, they must have asked Mary to send at least a dozen letters over the summer, insisting Severus visit at a moment's convenience.
Not particularly used to making nice with strangers, Severus managed to pull it off rather well. He said please and thank you, smiled politely at all the right times and made some modest attempts at small talk. It was thankful the Macdonalds had so many questions about school, as that was where Severus shined and he slipped back into his old self easily, describing his favorite courses and the complexities of potion brewing. The fact that the very muggle Macdonalds were outright fascinated by anything magical made them a perfect audience.
They thanked Severus profusely for coming to their daughter's aid and inquired on his and Lily's health, but for the most part they steered clear of actual discussions of the attack. Lily suspected it was because they wished avoiding upsetting Mary.
Mary seemed to be doing okay overall, but Lily knew better than to assume things were alright or that they could go back to how things were. Mary's eyes spoke of nightmares much as Lily's and she seemed to have lost a bit a weight. Nevertheless, whatever demons she faced over the attack, it would seem Mary was making a valiant fight to overcome them. Her eyes still sparkled when she smiled and contained the fire burning in them that had endeared Lily to her in the first place. Though she was pale and thinner these days, she was still full of life. Clearly, Mary would be damned if she let Mulciber ruin her life. Lily admired her for that.
Lily's heart went out to Mary for what she endured. The imperious curse was a complex spell and its affects still not fully understood due to the number of conflicting reports by those under its influence. Some victims claimed to remember nothing of their ordeal while under the spell, coming to only after it had been lifted and having no knowledge of how they got there or what they had been doing. Others claimed to be aware the entire time, recalling their fruitless fight to resist every command and the anguish they felt at the futility of it.
Then there were those who described feeling half asleep, a foggy sensation coming over them. They could recall being given commands or directions and complying, but having a vague sense that the direction made no sense. They'd ask themselves why they would be doing such a thing, but ultimately finding no explanation their minds would go blank again and the task would resume.
In the one letter where Mary did discuss the attack, she fell into the latter category. She could only scarcely remember what happened and to be frank she wished not to have anyone fill in the blanks she was still missing. She described it to Lily as feeling like everything had gone fuzzy, like a broken television set, a weird humming noise providing too much distraction for her to focus much on anything. She couldn't exactly feel or see what was going on around her, but she knew something was happening. She was able to grasp that at one point before the fuzziness, she had been scared and she questioned why then she was just sitting there doing nothing. However, no matter how much she thought she should do something her body remained unresponsive. Then the weird feelings had cleared and she found herself sitting in the compartment with her robes and blouse undone and a flurry of curses flying over her head.
That was all Mary knew and that was all she wanted to know. The Aurors that arrived at the train station requested a statement from Mary shortly after Lily left with Severus to treat his wound at St. Mungos. Mary was able to give them a decent play by play of the events leading up to the actual attack, including Mulciber pointing his wand at her and uttering the curse. To truly hold Mulciber accountable for his actions before the Wizengamot, Lily was asked to provide a memory of the event to compound with Mary's statements. It was all but guaranteed that Mulciber would face lengthy jail time for the confirmed use of an unforgivable; a batty Auror missing part of his nose had said the trial was more formality than anything since they had proof, including what they found when checking the last few spells Mulciber cast.
Avery was the one they had to worry about in the upcoming trial. While his actions were deplorable, the ministry tended to focus more on the spells performed by a wizard more than the actions taken by said wizard with the use of those spells. Avery used less offensive magic to accomplish a very offensive act; Lily worried his barrister would successfully be able to argue leniency for him on those grounds.
"So Mary tells us to two of you are part of the 'Slug Club'," Walter said, shaking Lily from her thoughts, "Is that some sort of club for discussion on potion ingredients or something? You did say animal parts are used in potions."
Severus sighed, "I wish it was about potions," he huffed.
Lily laughed, bringing up a hand to smother her mirth, "Our professor for potions started the club to build connections with those he thinks are 'destine' for fame and glory. It is really just a chance for him to make connections with future celebrities and invite old alumni to the school to show off the famous people he knows who give him special privileges. His name is Professor Slughorn, so hence the Slug Club."
Mary snickered into her teacup, "Severus Snape having to pretend he finds some old wind bags' accomplishments interesting; how terrible that must be."
"I'll have you know it is the utmost torture," Severus deadpanned.
Mary snorted, tea splashing over the rim of her cup, "Oh, hell!"
"Mary, language," Miriam scolded, looking positively mortified.
"It's okay mum, I think Severus and Lily have heard worst words before," Mary said with a roll of her eyes, "You know, going to a school full of teenagers and all?"
Miriam huffed, "Still, that's no way to talk at the table."
"The…tea table, mum?" Mary asked with a raised brow, her eyes sweeping over the small table on the patio they were sitting at.
"Any table," Miriam insisted firmly, "Now, what's this…Slug club like? You two must be terribly talented to be selected for it."
"Lily and Severus get top marks in just about every class," Mary answered for them, "They're like a dream team in potions."
"Ah, and are the two of you thinking of brewing as a career?" Walter asked good naturedly, "You could open up a nice little shop together," he waggled his eyebrows.
Lily and Severus flushed.
"We're not," Lily stammered.
"It's not like that…" Severus mumbled.
"Oh, quit teasing them, dear," Miriam slapped her husband playfully on the arm, "Mary, why don't you show them around the garden, hm? I'm sure they would love that."
"I'd be more than happy to," Mary said enthusiastically, all too eager to escape her embarrassing parents. As her parents began bringing dishes and cups back into the house, Mary led Severus and Lily across the lawn to her mother's garden.
"We're thinking of having a little water feature go over there, but we haven't plotted it out yet," Mary said, pointing to a half dug segment of dirt, "And over here are mum's favorite flowers. She even put a few seats and an umbrella here so she can sit and enjoy the view."
The trio sat down among clusters of flowers in pinwheel whites and purples. A small rod iron table that was more ornamental than functional sat off to the side just under the umbrella. Overhead, birds chirped from the Magnolia trees and a flock of starlings flew by.
"It's lovely out here, Mary," Lily complimented.
"Thank you," Mary replied, "Say, what'd you do to your arm?" she asked, gesturing to a reddening mark on Lily's forearm.
Lily looked at her arm in puzzlement, "You know, I actually have no clue. Probably scratched an itch too hard."
"We have some cream for that inside," Mary offered. She glanced at Severus nervously, "Um…how do you like the garden, Severus?"
Severus glanced around the garden observantly. Lily knew that flowers and gardens weren't really Severus's thing unless they grew potion ingredients, but she hoped he would mind his words.
"It's…peaceful," Severus concluded eventually, causing Lily to let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding, "The flowers are nice."
Mary smiled, relieved, "Thanks, I helped plant most of them. Mum thinks it's peaceful here too; she always comes out here when she needs to get away from all the chaos. Of course, I grew up used to it, but I suppose an only child like mum misses the days when there wasn't seven of us under one roof."
Severus cocked an eyebrow, "You have siblings?"
Mary nodded, "Four of them, all boys. Mom's just glad that her fifth and final try she got me."
"I've never heard of any other Macdonalds at our school in recent years," Severus pointed out, intrigued, "None of them are magical?"
Mary shook her head, "Nope. Not that they particularly mind. The egos on those four; you'd think they were famous or something," she counted off on her fingers, "Sports pro, science wiz, aspiring actor, they think their professions are far better than 'twiddling a wand' because they work hard for it." Mary snorted, "As if I don't slave over my grades."
"Oh I wouldn't say none of your siblings are magical," Lily said with a cat-like grin.
Mary's face mirrored Lily's, "Oh yes, one of them has certainly found his calling. And dare I say it is of a…mystical persuasion."
Severus eyed the girls, clearly baffled, "Am I going to be let in on this joke or…"
Mary laughed, her voice ringing like gentle bell, "My second eldest brother, Walt is what you could call a charlatan. He's a muggle magician, but he…may have picked up some products each year when my family took me shopping in Diagon Alley."
Severus smirked, "Really?"
Mary smiled cheekily, "Just a few things, nothing big. Teacups that refill themselves, a dustpan and hand broom that sweep the floor for you, a box that makes things temporarily disappear. They're all minor things that just make his act look more convincing to the average muggle."
Lily nodded eagerly, joining in, "Yeah, I've seen his act, it's all very believable if you didn't know about real magic. He drinks from the cup and it refills constantly throughout the show. When he makes confetti or something come out of his sleeves, the dustpan magically cleans it up. But my favorite is his Book of Spells," she said the last part dramatically in a low ominous voice.
Besides her, Mary was having a fit of giggles.
"Dare I ask?" Severus inquired.
Mary jumped to his aid, "Walt bought a book that absorbs the ink and hides it from anyone but the owner. So it shows what he's written when he's holding it, but when he hands it to someone else, the pages all become blank."
"He wrote a lot of Latin phrases in calligraphy all over it," Lily added, "Every page, and he makes a big showing of flashing the pages at his audience. Then he asks a volunteer to come up and he hands them the book and asks them to show it to everyone. The ink fades away faster than anyone can read it. It leaves people amazed."
"So I take it your brother was thrilled when you got your Hogwarts letter?" Severus queried.
Mary shrugged, "Honestly, he and the others thought it was some big joke when mum and dad first told them. I think they were expecting us all to jump up and shout 'gotcha' at some point. They kept telling me it was all fake, right up until we went through the wall at platform 9 ¾."
"I bet they didn't know what to make of that," Severus said.
"They were positively gob smacked," Mary replied, "They recovered pretty quickly, but I think they are under the impression that magic is like it is in fairy tales. They're endlessly teasing me about how I'm going to marry a wizard like from the story books. You know; long robes, huge beard, some old guy."
"Dumbledore?" Severus said.
Mary choked on a laugh, "Good one! But yeah, they're pretty cool with the whole magic thing, though they still think what they do is harder and therefore more impressive."
"I wish Petunia had taken that attitude from the start," Lily complained.
"That's right, your sister didn't take it well," Mary recalled, "How are things? You said in your letters that she's gotten better about magic."
Lily thought about it, "Well she talks to me now without any insults, which is nice. And I honestly feel like I have a sister again," she smiled for a moment, but then it dropped into a pout, "Unfortunately I think Simone's hoity-toity attitude is rubbing off on her. She's suddenly acting all posh. Oh, and she's still bossy."
"That she is," Severus agreed.
Mary laughed, "Well a tiger can't change all its stripes, right? Anyway it must be nice having her around to share in all the fun now."
Lily smiled, "Yeah, it is. She even does the big sister advice thing now. I can come to her with questions and she actually listens to me!"
"Progress!" Mary cheered, "So Severus...how...how are things at your house?"
Severus inwardly cringed; he was hoping to avoid this topic.
"No point in pretending you don't know about my home life," Severus said with a sigh, "It's being...dealt with. Lily's family has been helping me."
"Oh, so the authorities are doing something about it," Mary asked hopefully.
"Pretty much," Severus lied. He didn't feel it prudent to tell Mary about his father's attempt on his life or his new living arrangements. He wasn't ready to open up to Mary just yet.
Mary smiled warmly, "I'm glad. I was really worried." The subject dropped after that, for which Severus was thankful.
The trio spent much of the afternoon going back and forth with various levels of teasing and sarcasm—the latter mostly from Severus—and sharing their own news about how their summers were going. Lily and Severus made no mention of now living together; it would raise too many questions and Severus truly didn't know Mary enough to feel comfortable revealing his trouble family just yet.
It wasn't long before the conversation shifted to Severus favorite past time, mocking James Potter.
"Really?" Mary asked, astonished, "Potter is still writing to you?"
Lily nodded, "He keeps sending me letters, hidden away in the ones Remus sent. Simone thinks he's got his house elves doing it; they can unseal the envelope and sneak his inside and reseal it before Remus mails it."
"You think the lack of response would tip him off that you don't want to talk with him," Mary said, frowning.
"That's Potter for you," Severus sneered, "Thickheaded to the bitter end. I just think it's pretty underhanded what he's pulling with Lupin. Lupin tells him to respect Lily's privacy, so Potter goes behind his friends back and manages to send his letter through Lupin anyway. I thought he was supposed to be the 'good guy' as he so often claims." It was obvious James was still a sore spot for him, not that Lily could blame him.
Lily sighed, "James doesn't seem to get that there are boundaries he shouldn't be crossing. I mean, the only boundaries he ever seems to recognize are the big ones, like muggleborns being targeted by dark wizards. But violating someone's privacy and sending a slew of letters to harass a girl; barely even a blip on his radar when it comes to morals."
It was true, James certainly did rewrite the rules on right and wrong when it came to what he and his friends did. If a Slytherin hexed a first year it was an outrage, but if Potter and his friends ganged up on and bombarded an unarmed Slytherin that was just them 'putting a snake in their place'. They couldn't seem to grasp that the actions of a few Slytherin didn't negate the actions they took against every Slytherin. Only Lupin understood it was wrong, but he was too cowed by his friends to do anything.
Mary mulled the whole thing over in her head.
"Maybe you should write back to Potter," she suggested, "tell him to stop writing."
Lily had already thought of that, "I doubt it would work. Even if I tell him to leave me alone, he'll view any response from me as 'progress' and just keep writing trying to win me over. What's that saying? 'Kids view any attention as good attention'? I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't. At least by not responding he can't claim I gave him some signal of my interests."
"You two would have have very stupid children," Mary deadpanned.
Lily let out a choked snort that morphed into a cough. A quick glance at Severus showed him looking as if he had swallowed something foul.
Lily thumped her chest, trying to end her coughing fit, "I'll have you know that any child of mine would be brilliant simply because of my intellect. As it is, it will be a cold day in hell when I have kids with James Potter. The kid might inherit his big headed ego!"
"There's no guarantee a child will turn out like their father," Severus said sourly. Clearly, he was still worried Lily might choose James over their friendship.
Lily patted Severus hand, "I know that. You're proof of it. But you and James are like apples and oranges."
"And Potter's apple has a nasty old rotten spot in it," Mary declared.
"Exactly!" Lily agreed. She turned back to Severus.
Severus attempted to keep scowling, but his face softened almost unnoticeably so.
"Mary! It's getting dark," Miriam called from the back door, "Would your friends like to stay for dinner?"
"I'm starving," Mary stated, standing up. She turned to Severus and Lily, hands on her hips.
"Well don't just stand there," she said, "Let's eat." She tugged Lily to her feet and beckoned Severus to follow them.
"I am really happy you came, Severus," Mary admitted quietly, walking arm in arm with Lily, "I was worried about you."
"Well as you can see, I'm fine," Severus replied neutrally.
Mary smiled, "I'm glad."
She led her two companions inside for a taste of Miriam's home cooking.
And there you have it. Mundane and unexciting. But isn't it nice to learn more about our characters in the meantime?
Next chapter will be far more exciting.
Next chapter we begin...the trial! Bum, Bum, BUM!
Read and Review loves!