Hello, hello! Good to be back, folks!

Thanks again for all the reviews. I'm pleased so many of you have shared your feelings with me over how you think things will go with Vernon. You all seem so invested in where things could go from here :)

If Someone Cared Enough

Chapter Ninety-One: The Talk...Sort Of

Severus looked over the Daily Prophet, sipping on a cup of ginseng tea and perusing the latest drivel Rita Skeeter called news. How the Prophet considered her their top journalist and not the insipid gossip columnist she clearly strove to be was beyond Severus. Then again, it made complete sense why attention-seeking Rita would seek this career instead of a gossip column; what good was juicy gossip if you couldn't pass it off as true?

"Anything good today?" Lily asked as she sat down beside Severus, passing him a plate of potato farl and a fried egg.

Severus shook his head, taking the offered plate with a smile of appreciation, "Nothing but the usual twaddle. More speculation on what went down at school; some nutter from school wrote in that he thinks we fought a Crumple-Horned Snorkack—whatever the bloody hell that is."

Lily nibbled on the end of her farl, "Why does that sound so familiar—ah! Xenophilius, that Ravenclaw from school. You know the one, always wearing mismatched clothing. On purpose!"

Severus harrumphed, "Should have known that boy was battier than Vlad Drakul's castle."

"Does it say anything about Simone and Thea?" Lily asked, pouring herself some juice.

Severus glanced over the current page he was on, "All false leads mainly put out by the Goblin community. It's clear they're helping throw the ministry off the pair's tracks."

Lily leaned back in her chair, "That's a relief. Last thing those two deserve is to be dragged back to England to be charge with defending themselves from Thea's awful family."

"So you think they've left the country," Severus proposed, using the side of his fork to break open his egg and let the yolk run onto his potato farl. He rubbed the bread into the runny substance, taking a relishing bite and mulling over the idea.

Lily nodded, "There's no way they'd stay in England with the ministry looking for them. If they get out of the UK, the ministry doesn't have any power over them."

"Unless they get caught and extradited," Severus pointed out.

Lily frowned, "Well they shouldn't; only a complete ass would rat those two out and ship them back here. Thea's parents were terrible and clearly in the wrong. Simone was only protecting Thea from them."

Severus shrugged, "I'm certainly not arguing that it was deserved, but unfortunately the ministry tends to see things in black and white. They generally hold everyone accountable for any and all illegal spells they use. Even with the charges of Unforgivables being weighed against Appollonia and Roman, in the laws eyes Simone still must answer for her use of obliviation."

"They made an exception for you making that spell that cuts," Lily pointed out.

Severus sighed, "Yes, but technically, they charged Avery for actually using it. And clearly Dumbledore has not told the ministry about my modified version down in the Chamber, so they can't charge me for what they don't know. With the trial against Avery, they had no evidence that I'd ever wielded the spell before, only that I invented it. Even then, my illegal spell invention was taken off the record in exchange for teaching it to Mad Eye. It's all politics; they gave me a pass because it benefited the ministry. There's no benefit to waiving Simone's charge."

"Other than that they could tell their conscious that they're doing the right thing," Lily groused, arms crossed.

"Politics are rarely based on good feelings and sentiments," Severus said with a tiny smirk.

Lily flicked him in the forehead, "Don't get smart with me. I'm just upset they're out there hunting our friends like common criminals."

"Who? Simone and Thea?" Petunia asked as she entered the room with a breadbasket laden with homemade scones, "Oh, they'll never find them."

"Something you know that we don't, Petunia?" Severus inquired.

Petunia waved a hand dismissively, ladling some jam onto a scone, "Only that the ministry doesn't know nearly as much about Goblin secrecy as they've been led to believe they do. I've met Goblins, seen the things they can do. Trust me when I say that if they don't want Simone and Thea found, they won't be found."

"I suppose it is doubtful that Goblins would just up and tell all their secrets to Wizards when they're still treated like second class citizens," Severus mused, "Considering they're the top curse-breakers in the world, it's no surprise that they may have concealment magic the ministry doesn't know how to crack."

"Weren't you a little nervous meeting them, Tuney," Lily asked worriedly, "Goblins can have quite an intimidating presence."

Petunia shrugged, "Admittedly, they're appearances did startle me at first; much harsher features than ours, sharper eyes, pointy teeth, but after you've had a few drinks with one of them, they're not much different than any other person. They like to laugh and sing—grant it I couldn't understand a word—but they're a fun, welcoming bunch once you get to know them. And in their eyes Simone is family; they'd do anything to help her."

"It's wonderful that they were able to assist Simone where we couldn't," Lily admitted, 'We honestly had no clue how we'd stop Thea's wedding to Rabastan."

"You use to be a far more conservative type, Petunia," Severus observed, harkening back to their discussion about when Vernon visited, "You were actually okay with two women getting married?"

Petunia titled her head, mulling it over, "I suppose I would have had a problem with it back then—I mean, if I was still trying to pull off the whole 'respectively normal' act. Of course, normal probably doesn't exist at all when you think about it now. But really, when you've spent so much time with Simone and Thea you start to find it hard to imagine them apart. They're just so…in tune with each other. A package deal. True I never would have placed them as romantic partners if Simone had never told me, but just the idea of one or both of them marrying someone and then drifting apart as they built separate lives just didn't…didn't seem right somehow. Like, I always just sort of picture them together, you know?"

Lily nodded, "I know what you mean. Looking back on it now, its funny how I never made the connection before. They're just one of those inseparable pairs you don't break up. It would be unnatural to."

Petunia snapped her fingers, pointing at Lily, "Exactly. Is it weird to me? Sure. Do I have any idea how two women make a relationship work? No, but frankly I'd like to think I have enough grace and decency to not try and puzzle out the intimate details of my friends'…well, intimacy."

"Still say Simone has teeth down there," Severus muttered.

Petunia kicked him under the table, but there was no real heat to her glare, only amusement.

"All the better reason for a scoundrel not to go poking around down there," she said primly, sipping her tea, "Maybe stay out of Lily's knickers while you're at it; just in case."

Severus abruptly choked on his breakfast.

"Petunia!" Lily gasped, drawing a chuckle from her sister.

Petunia smirked over the rim of her cup, "I think I lost any chance of being a prim and proper lady when I met Simone."

"She's certainly the Queen of Crass," Severus begrudged, coughing.

{page break}

"So," Petunia began when Severus went to wash up for the day, "How are things in paradise."

"Well there's no 'knicker rummaging' as you so crudely implied," Lily said with a glare.

Petunia smirked, "But you want there to be."

Lily flushed scarlet, "No!"

Petunia raised a brow.

"I mean," Lily stammered, "I mean…we haven't been doing much of anything lately. It would be nice to…but we've only just recently gotten back together…"

"You broke up," Petunia asked, surprised, "Why? When did that happen?"

"Oh right," Lily realized, "I didn't tell you in my letters home, did I? I didn't know if mum or dad would see it. Yeah, we sort of broke up right as the term started—though I guess it can't be called a breakup if we weren't even sure we were dating yet…you could call it a bit of a hiatus."

Petunia set her cup down, "What caused it?"

Lily twiddled her thumbs, unsure if she should say anything, "You know how Avery and Mulciber escaped on their way to Azkaban?"

Petunia nodded.

"Well the nightmares came back," Lily explained, "Worse than before. I was honestly terrified they would come for us. I guess Severus didn't like seeing me so scared so he decided to take things into his own hands."

"He started…testing spells that would let him invade people's minds," Lily finished nervously, eyeing her sister.

Petunia waved her hand, "Go on."

Lily blinked, "Wow…I was expecting a bigger reaction than that."

"Lily," Petunia said, "My best friend just recently ripped every memory of Thea out of two people's heads; I think I'm a little past surprised that such magic exists."

"I just thought you'd have more to say about the morals of this," Lily confessed.

Petunia sighed, "People do crazy things for love, especially to protect who they love. I assume Severus had a reason for testing this spell?"

Lily nodded, "He said he couldn't trust some of the people in his House at school. He wanted to be able to read their minds in order to find out if they were planning anything awful for me, or in contact with Avery."

"Considering he can't exactly just ask someone if they're in legal with an attempted rapist, I hardly can blame him for his methods," Petunia said.

Lily flinched at the bluntness of Petunia's words; she still struggled to say rape because it made what nearly happened to her all too real.

Petunia's eyes softened, clearly having noticed Lily's change in demeanor, "I'm sorry. You were saying?"

"I found out what he was up to once we were on the train," Lily said, "He had all these notes about it in a book. I…may not have handled it well when I found out."

"Let me guess," Petunia said, "You let your temper get the better of you and said something you shouldn't."

Lily nodded, shamefaced.

Petunia rolled her eyes, "Of course."

"I didn't mean to," Lily insisted, "It just sort of slipped out. I was just so mad; it's an invasion of privacy and at the time I just felt it hit too close to home to what I went through with Avery and…I messed up."

"What exactly slipped out?" Petunia asked skeptically.

Lily wrung her hands, "I…mayhavecomparedhimtohisfather…"

Petunia blinked.

"Wow," she said, "Just…wow."

"It was an accident," Lily whined, "I felt terrible the moment I said it."

"As you should," Petunia said simply, "The boy nearly had his neck twisted off by that man and you thought it prudent to compare the two just to give some weight to your stance on the soap box?"

Lily groaned, "That's not what it was."

Petunia raised a brow, "Isn't it though? You do like to be the beacon of all that is righteous and true, Lily."

"I do not!" Lily denied.

Again Petunia rolled her eyes, "Yes, you do. You always have a lecture ready on your tongue to berate people for not living up to your standards of right and wrong—don't give me that look, you do! You have this neat little tally box of what fits in the good and what goes in the bad and you've used it for years to tell other people how they should act."

Petunia held up her hands abating, "Now I admit I wasn't much better with how I rated 'normal' versus 'freaky,' but at least I wasn't throwing my longest friend under the bus just because he didn't fit precisely in my little categories."

"I did that?" Lily asked sadly.

Petunia nodded, "All the time. Granted, I didn't exactly like Severus back then so I didn't mind you doing so, but it's the truth. His friends were bad to the bone simply because they were 'dark', yet you rated Potter and his gang so differently despite the abuse they heaped on him. Heck, you rated everyone differently, from the students who got a laugh out of watching Severus suffer, to the teachers who turned a blind eye, they were all still levels better than anyone from Severus's little circle. You defined bad as dark magic so you were always coming up with excuses for why those who harassed him with light magic or those who never helped him were somehow a step above him."

Lily bit her lip, looking away, "You sound a lot like Simone."

Petunia grinned, "Glad I'm not the only person who's ever called you out on it."

"I really didn't mean to compare him to his father," Lily said, tears welling in her eyes, "I only meant to convey to him that two wrongs don't make a right. Doing something bad because you know someone else might do something doesn't make it right."

"Yes, well from what I've been hearing, war doesn't exactly play by the rules," Petunia said with a sniff, "Those ideals are all well and good in a peaceful world, Lily, but not in one that's about to be torn apart. Do you honestly think dad would play by the rules if we were put in danger?"

"…No," Lily admitted.

"No he would not," Petunia agreed, "It's not even legal for him to it; his certification expired five years ago. But he's kept it, probably in case we ever really needed it."

"He was deadest on getting rid of it last year," Lily recalled, "But then…"

Petunia's eyes softened, "Then you and Mary were attacked."

Lily nodded grimly.

Petunia scooted around the table to take her sister's hand.

"Lily," she said, "There's nothing wrong with wanting to be a good person, to not want to stoop to someone's level, but that's not the be all, end all of being good. Sometimes doing whatever it takes to stand by others in need negates whatever you've done to accomplish that. Following the rules is fine, so long as you know those rules aren't set in stone, not in the complicated world we live in."

Petunia rubbed her thumb along the top of Lily's hand soothingly, "You did apologize to him, right?"

"Multiple times," Lily admitted, pulling her hand away to cover her face, "I still feel awful. I'm surprised he ever took me back."

Petunia snorted, "Well love does make people do stupid things."

Lily managed a little chuckle, "Brat."

"Idiot," Petunia shot back playfully, "Anyway, I'm glad you two managed to work things out, even if you did leave me in the dark about there even being a problem in the first place." She huffed, dramatically turning away, "And here I thought we were sisters."

Now it was Lily's turn to roll her eyes, "Oh please, like you and Simone don't have your fair share of secrets."

Petunia turned back to Lily with a grin, "And I'm not telling you any," she teased.

"Oh no," Lily said monotonously, "However will I go on?"

The pair stared at each other for a moment before giggling.

"So," Petunia said, sobering, "What are you hoping for this time around with Severus?"

Lily shrugged, a little blush rising to her cheeks, "Well, I definitely miss kissing him…and cuddling…spending time together…"

"But not sex, right?" Petunia asked bluntly.

Lily sputtered, "Tuney!"

"What?" Petunia shrugged, "You need to have the 'it's a privilege, not a right,' talk with somebody and I doubt we can have it with mum and dad without them taking issues with Severus sleeping one room away from you!"

"Ugh, you're right," Lily groaned, burying her face in her hands, "But we're not anywhere near that point yet. I mean, we've never even gotten pass kissing."

Petunia looked moderately surprised, "Really? He hasn't even touched your chest?"

"N-not on purpose," Lily bleated, "Merlin, no! We've only just…pressed against each other, but that's about it."

Petunia hummed, tapping her chin, "Do you two kiss with tongue?"

"Tuney!" Lily cried.

"Hey, it's important," Petunia argued, "There's a fine line between peck on the lips and a tongue in your mouth."

Lily put her head on the table, "I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you."

"And yet you have no one else to talk to," Petunia said smugly, "I mean, unless you wrote to Mary, but these conversations just can't be truly conveyed in a letter."

"I can't write to Mary," Lily said, her voice muffled with her face still hidden by her folded arms, "She's the reason Severus and I didn't make up right away. She confessed to him."

Petunia choked, having picked the worst time to take a sip of tea, "She what?"

Lily huffed, shoving herself away from the table to slump in her chair, "Yeah…turns out she had some feelings for him that I had no idea about. She confessed to him after our fight; not that she actually knew we were somewhat together at the time. She just sort of assumed his feelings were unrequited and that she could take his mind off me and win him over."

"So she was trying to be the rebound," Petunia muttered, "She should have more respect for herself than that. She shouldn't be someone's second choice."

Lily nodded, "Yeah, the whole attack by Mulciber really messed with her, I think. She constantly felt people were seeing what she went through rather than seeing her. She said Severus was the only one who still treated her like Mary instead of a victim."

"So what happened?" Petunia inquired, "Did she and Severus date after you two broke up?"

"No," Lily replied, "Severus made it pretty clear to Mary that he didn't think he could ever return her feelings, but since he was unattached as far as Mary knew, she didn't see the harm in trying to woo him. And Sev…well he isn't very good with reading people. Mary hung all over him and I don't think he truly didn't seem much difference between that and our friends hanging off one another."

Petunia gazed sympathetically at her sister, "And you had to sit back and watch that the whole time."

Lily sighed, "It wasn't easy to do. Technically, Sev and I weren't together anymore, so it wasn't like I could call dibs. And I didn't want to hurt Mary by pushing her to the side and winning him back. I think but Sev and I figured she'd get over her crush and then he and I could make things right with each other. And then we kissed…"

Petunia eyebrows shot up her forehead, "When was that?"

"After meeting with the Prince's barrister," Lily explained, "Mary had just recently found out there was something going on with Sev and I before she made her move. She basically asked me to consider her feelings enough to be honest with her if I intended to pursue him…but then he was so sad when we returned from the barrister and all I wanted was to comfort him. So we kissed."

"We told Mary straight away," Lily added quickly, "But the damage was already done. She got into an argument with me in the common room and then stopped speaking to me entirely."

Petunia whistled, "That's quite the tale. Did you manage to make amends with her eventually?"

Lily smiled, "Yeah, after the incident in the Chamber, Mary came around. I guess she realized that I couldn't just stop loving Severus simply because she asked to me."

"Love huh?" Petunia said with a smirk, "Didn't know you were at that place in the relationship yet."

Lily flushed, "Well, what else would I call it? Sev means the world to me. Honestly, the thought of him being with someone else drives me batty. I just..I…"

Petunia leaned forward expectantly.

"I just couldn't stand the idea of someone else having all of his firsts," Lily whispered lamely.

"Well don't let any of those first happen until you're ready," Petunia advised, "For that matter, don't let any of those happen under this roof. Last thing we need is getting mum and dad all up in arms that the boy they took into their home is buggering their teenage daughter."

"Seriously, is there liquor in your tea," Lily asked in exasperation, snatching up her sister's teacup, "You're being pretty crude for someone so proper."

"Perhaps you're just becoming a prude," Petunia said in singsong.

"Who's a prude?" Severus questioned as he came down the stairs, rubbing a towel over his wet hair.

Lily flushed crimson and became very fixated on a tear in the tablecloth.

Petunia just smirked, "Oh…no one."

{page break}

That night as Severus sat back, propped against the pillows with a bit of light reading, he was pulled from his quiet peace by the gentle tapping of someone at his door. A soft, hesitant tap, tap, tapping.

"Come—" Severus cleared his throat, lowering his voice. Whoever was on the other side of the door clearly didn't wish to wake up anyone else in the house, "Come in."

The door opened just a crack and a red haired head wedge itself through.

"Did I wake you?" Lily asked quietly.

Severus shook his head, sitting up a little straight. He tilted up his book so Lily could see, "Just reading before bed. Did you need something?"

Lily squeezed through the opening in the door, carefully shutting the door closed behind her. She took a moment to listen for noise out in the hall. Positive the coast was clear she turned back to Severus.

"I was thinking," Lily began offhandedly, "Would you maybe…like to…if you're okay with it of course…"

She tapped her pointer fingers together nervously, glancing shyly at Severus, "Would it be alright if I slept here."

Severus closed his book, turning to face Lily a little more, "Are you having nightmares again?"

Lily shook her head, eyes on the floor, "Well…no…I haven't had those in a while. Though you'd think I'd be dreaming about something awful after seeing that basilisk, right?"

She and Severus chuckled lightly at that little joke; how was it a giant man eating snake didn't compare to molesters and abusive fathers?

"So what's wrong?" Severus asked.

Lily shrugged, "That's just it; nothing's wrong. I just want to…you know…snuggle with you. Like we used to do before winter break ended. I liked spending that time with you."

Lily ducked her head, her hair obscuring her face, "I know we had a rough patch before, and I'm to blame for it…and I get that we're starting fresh so everything's new again and we're trying to take things slow, but I really miss being close to you and—"

"Lily."

Severus pulled back the edge of his blankets, scooting over slightly.

"Hop in," he said simply, patting the space besides him.

Lily wasted no time, bounding over to Severus like an excitable puppy. Practically diving beneath the covers, Lily snuggle down into the downy softness, relishing the scent of Severus's sheets.

"What are you reading?" Lily asked, drawing the blankets up to her chin.

Severus flashed her the cover; The Quintessential Guide to Warding and Defense, "Figured I'd polish up on some basic security measures. Not just for our own safety either; You-Know-Who will most likely have every spell you can think of guarding his remaining Horcuxes. If we ever plan to destroy them, we'll need to know how to get past his defenses."

"I hate to say it, but you might need darker stuff than that," Lily advised, "I doubt You-Know-Who would stick to basic locking charms."

Severus nodded, "No, but this book does cover some of the more advanced and complicated enchantments. Some are not considered strictly 'dark' but they do require a level of ministry sanction to perform due to the potential harm they can cause to trespassers and thieves. That strikes me as something he wouldn't hesitate to utilize, especially without a license; I think he would probably relish the idea of it inflicting harm on the unsuspecting."

Lily yawned, scrunching up her face in a manner Severus found profoundly adorable, "Are you finishing up soon? It's late."

"I'm aiming to finish one more chapter," Severus said. He placed his hand on Lily's head, combing his fingers through her hair, "Go to sleep, I'll join you shortly."

Lily rolled over, tucking herself into Severus side with a contented sigh. A few minutes later, she was lost to the waking world.

Severus settled back against his propped up pillow, quietly turning a page as his free hand lazily carded through the sleeping redhead's hair.

Yay! The snuggles are back! I know a few of you have expressed missing these tender moments between the two. Admittedly, I have too.

So which do you think is worst: the sex talk with your awkward parents...or your older sibling who likes watching you squirm?

Review please!