"James signed up for that?"
"You didn't know? He did, and I'll bet you anything he's wishing he didn't. He didn't like lifting up the–"
"STOP!"
"Geez, Amanda, calm down!"
"I'm about to eat. Shut up–please," she added as an afterthought.
"Sure. What's for lunch?"
James came into the Great Hall, looking a bit sick. "Lily, you're really callous. Do you know, Sirius, she practically cut up that whole stinking frog without wrinkling her nose? There's something wrong there."
"There is."
James was puzzled. "Lil–why?"
"If you sign up for a class, you should expect that. I think it's a bit strange that someone that volunteered for a class would come out of it looking sick to their stomach."
Sirius laughed. "She has a point, James!"
James scowled. "Shut up!"
The next Anatomy lesson was held on Friday, after lunch, and it was probably a good thing that they didn't have a practical lesson. They were simply reading the preface and summarizing it, which prevented many trips to the bathroom because people were throwing up. They were going to be working on a fetal pig next Tuesday, Professor Maar told them, and he wasn't going to be letting anyone out to go throw up. If they wanted to do that, don't bother coming, but he wasn't letting them out.
He might be very strict, Lily thought, but he was likable and a very good teacher.
That weekend, Lily, Diana, Serena, Elspeth, and Abigail were awakened by a loud crash and a whizzing at six-thirty in the morning. When they managed to tear their curtains aside and look at the room, they found a hole in the window and a Bludger rocketing out of the hole in the glass. Running to the broken pane, stepping nimbly over the shards, Lily peered out of the window, looking straight into the face of Nigel Patil, the Gryffindor team captain, who was hovering at eye level on his broom.
"Oops."
"I should say so! What on earth was that doing in here?"
Nigel grinned. "Joseph!"
The clumsy Gryffindor Beater, Joseph DeVonn, flew forward just as Serena joined Lily at the window.
"Was that you?"
"Yeah..."
Serena shook her head. "You'd better be glad I'm too tired to go for my wand. As is, though–She reached back, and, before Joseph knew what was happening, had slapped him, hard, across the mouth. "Don't EVER do that again!" Not waiting for an answer, she slammed the window shut, making some shards that hadn't fallen yet fly onto the grounds, pulled the curtains, and stomped into bed. "I'm going back to sleep. And if ANYONE disturbs me, they're going to regret it!"
Abigail and Lily glanced at each other, and rolled their eyes. Lily walked over to the window, yanked the curtains open, letting in the light, and leaned far out. "You're staying away from this window!" she yelled at the retreating Quidditch team.
Laughing at Serena's enraged countenance, Lily pulled out her fencing team T-shirt and a pair of jeans, and, after pulling on a pair of interesting socks with Coke bottles printed all over them and her sneakers, she coolly got out her brush and stepped in front of the dormitory's mirror, ignoring the whispering Serena, Diana, and Elspeth. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she fastened it with a black scrunchie and got into her Hogwarts robes. Lily grabbed her school bag, partly completed homework, and Hamlet, and went down to the common room, Abigail following her.
They finished up their History of Magic essay, and, by the time they were finished with the Divination questions and answers, it was eight o'clock and past time for breakfast.
When they stepped into the Great Hall, they were a bit surprised. Obviously, they had missed something, for the tables were a mess, food was everywhere, people were yelling wildly, and Professor McGonagall was handing out detentions right and left.
Lily slipped into a seat next to Sirius, who was one of the only ones not yelling. "What happened?"
"Food fight."
"I can tell. But how did it start?"
"Well–we had Quidditch tryouts at the end of last year to Ashley Thomas–that Chaser on our team. Well, one of the people that tried out and didn't get picked has a brother over in Slytherin, so the Slytherins started attacking us, saying something about discrimination against people with Slytherin siblings, and it sorta took off."
"Ah."
"It wasn't pretty."
"I can tell! But who did get picked?"
"Sixth year. Rebecca Oxley. She's not bad, but–well, this might not turn out so well."
"I can tell."
That Tuesday, tension was high between the Houses, and the Anatomy, Study of Ancient Runes (which they took with the Ravenclaws), Potions (with the Slytherins), and Herbology (with Hufflepuff) lessons were getting to be rather distanced. Each professor was trying his or her hardest to make the students get over this, but with no success. There were two groups of students in each House: those siding with a different House and those siding with their own. After hearing both sides of the story, however, Lily had formed her own, one-woman group: where no one cared either which way.
No one was too happy about that except the teachers, and in second period, before lunch, where every House had representatives, people had started flinging naval cords of fetal pigs across the room, causing Professor Maar to lose his usual coolness and give them extra homework. That didn't help any, and everyone left the room with jinxes sprouting out of the end of his or her wand.
It was only when Lily got hit with a Devil's Ear hex mixed with a temporary blindness one that she snapped and started attacking everyone in the direction the jinx had come from, sending several people to the hospital wing, among them Gryffindors. That sort of made her even more of an outcast among the students, not that she really cared, but some of her friends did.

Everyone was terribly relieved when Halloween started looming up ahead and people could mask the tentacles sprouting on their eyelids by saying that this was their costume. Normally, no one at Hogwarts dressed up, but this year no one had said they couldn't, so it was pretty much public that each House was having their own private party, with costumes and house-elf and Hogsmeade food. The teachers had no idea, and if they did, they pretended not to, for this took some of the tension away, as people were working on costumes. The theme that had been decided on was famous couples, with each couple to do a tiny skit, and Lily could have guessed Serena's and James' costumes in her sleep–they had decided to go as Romeo and Juliet. Remus, after ascertaining that the full moon wasn't on Halloween, had asked Elspeth to masquerade with him as Queen Guenevere, while he went as Sir Launcelot. That, at least, showed a bit of imagination. Lily wasn't planning to attend, since she didn't intend to go as Narcissus and didn't think she could find anyone willing to go with her. And when even Peter and Abigail had decided to go as Robin Hood and Marian, she knew she'd not be asked. Not that she really minded–it was to be expected.
As Halloween drew to only a week away, Lily had already asked her father to send her earplugs so she could block out the sounds of the party below her, as she was planning to stay in her dormitory. She was sitting moodily in the windowseat, trying fruitlessly to ignore Diana, Elspeth, and Serena squealing over the dress that Serena's mother had sent her–scarlet, with gold thread glittering everywhere, and on the front, the skirts drew aside to show a creamy white satin petticoat. Alisande was contentedly snacking on an Owl Treat, and, just then, another own rudely shoved her aside.
Lily jumped up. The newcomer had a small envelope tied to its leg, and, in a familiar scrawl, it had her name on it. Soothing Alisande's ruffled feathers, she untied the letter from its leg and slit it open.

Lily,

Hey, meet me down in the common room…uhh, right now's good. Bring a bunch of ideas.

Lily simply raised her eyebrows. Well then. Still, she stood up and left the dormitory, a bit puzzled.
She stepped into the common room, which was relatively empty. Moving towards the fire, she sat down next to the sender.
"Bring a bunch of ideas for what?"
"Oh, hi." Sirius whirled around. "Say, you haven't been asked to that Halloween thing, have you?"
Lily just stared at him. "The outcast, invited to a party? You should know better."
"Humph."
"Hey, that's my phrase!"
"I stole it. Anyway, you wouldn't consider going with me, would you?"
"I don't know. Let me consult my other self. Lily, Sirius just asked you to the Halloween party. What should we say?"
"I don't know, Lily, what do you think?"
"Lily, if we don't say yes, we'll spend our evening in our dormitory with earplugs stuffed into our ears."
"And if we go downstairs, we'll spend our evening in the common room with earplugs stuffed into our ears."
"Lily, I think we should go."
"What's this all about?"
"Oh, hi, Lily. Didn't see you there. Sirius has just asked us to go to the party on Halloween. What do you think?"
"Well, Lily and Lily, we really should say yes then. Who knows–we're probably last resorts."
"All right."
Lily turned back to Sirius, who was staring at her as if she was a dangerous explosive with the lighted fuse only an inch away from the dynamite. "Lily and Lily said I should go. So I'm overruled, two to one."
"Two to one what?"
"Don't mind me. I'm just being schizophrenic. Anyway, what should we go as? If you say Romeo and Juliet, I will scream."
"Don't worry; that wasn't anywhere near my mind. James and Serena are going like that, anyway."
"I know. She just got her dress delivered."
"Ah. Well, any ideas?"
"I'll also scream if you suggest Cupid and Psyche."
"Well–how about Antony and Cleopatra?"
"You idiot. I don't look the least bit Egyptian."
"You can pretend and see what happens," he suggested.
"Or not."
"Well–you want to go as someone nice or evil?"
"Sirius, you're talking to me here."
"All right. How about Cinderella and Prince Charming–I'm joking!" The addition did him no good, and Lily swatted him with a sofa cushion. "Fine. Fine. I give. James and Serena?"
"You want me to masquerade as a Barbie?"
"You could try."
"No."
He shrugged. "It would have gotten a laugh. We could try me and a Coke bottle," he said hopefully.
"I'm not stuffing myself into a glass bottle. Get Sirius, serious."
"Get what?"
"Aah! You're making me talk blarney. You stop, and I'll stop."
"That works. Macbeth and his wife?"
"That's not bad. We'll keep that in mind."
"Abigail Williams and John Proctor?"
"I'm not going as an insane adulteress! Anyway, John wasn't really evil."
"Uhh…let's see…evil, mean, famous–Lily?"

"Um?"
"Do you have a sort of pre-French Revolution outfit?"
"I can get one. Why?"
"You've read The Three Musketeers, haven't you?"
"Of course."
"Milady Clarik and the Comte de Rochefort?"
Lily's eyes started to widen and sparkle. Her lips curved up into a smile, and he knew he had picked something that caught her interest.
"So, you're willing to go as a traitorous murderess?"
"You'd be just as bad. Mother played her in theaters once!"
Sirius smiled. "We'll do that, then? But can you fit into her dress?"
Lily tossed her head. "Sirius, dear, Mother was short. And I have grown. If I don't fit, I'll wear platforms strapped to my shoes and walk like that. I'm not giving up this chance!"
He grinned and gave her a short hug. "Good. I thought that might make you happy. I'll try to get my dad to send me lots of black clothing. See you–well, later!"
Lily nodded. "See you, too!" She jumped up and ran upstairs, scratching a note to her father with amazing speed and sending Alisande on her journey.
Friday was pandemonium, and it was a miracle that none of the teachers had found out anything. No one paid any attention in Anatomy, and Lily ended up putting the heart of her niffler where the brain was supposed to go. Professor Maar, in an unusual spurt of generosity, had decided to let all the marks for that day not count, so everyone ended up in a pretty good mood. Their last period was Potions, and Professor Cauldwell, taking his usual nap, failed to notice that everyone was excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear. Well, all except Lily. She had no wish to disclose what she was going to be going as, and Sirius, patterning his manners on hers, also pretended not to want to.
The Halloween feast was marvelous, with live bats fluttering about jack-o-lanterns placed at intervals on the tables. And hardly anyone noticed that about a hundred of the bats were missing from the Gryffindor table when they stood up, but Lily had noticed, and she had also noticed Sirius' and James' repeated trips to the bathroom or to the common room or to the library. As she went upstairs to change into her mother's costume that had arrived that morning at breakfast, she made a mental note not to scream when bats came rushing out at her.
Lily didn't bother to change in the shelter of her bedcurtains; Serena, Abigail, Elspeth, and Diana were already doing that, so as to hide their costumes, and Lily saw no need to do the same, since they couldn't see her anyway. But, as she pulled the costume out of its box, she had to admit that her mother's costume manager had had taste.
It was a white cream gown, with a midnight blue overdress, covering her arms to the elbows and hanging down from there in wide sleeves that were edged with long, white lace. The overdress seemed to be sleeves attached to a midnight-blue corset, which had been laced in front, in the style of Disney's Sleeping Beauty's black one. And, hanging down the back and sides of the white cream skirt, was the rest of the overdress; a midnight-blue piece of material looking like a skirt with the front part cut out so one could see the white, both edged with white lace.
In delight, Lily found that she had shot up so far in the past two years that she could now fit into the gown without any difficulty, and without tripping over the hem, which she only had to take up two inches. And, everywhere on the overdress, someone had stitched gold fleur-de-lis', the king's symbol, but on the white, gold crosses were sported: the symbol of the cardinal. And the golden hairpiece that served as a sheath for the poniard went with this dress, and, with obvious excitement, Lily attached the flowing, twining golden mass to her hair, quoting to herself Milady's statement form when she was in prison and trying to seduce her guard, so as to escape.
"Then, as if to render and account to herself of the changes she could place upon her countenance, so mobile and so expressive, she made it take all expressions from that of passionate anger, which convulsed her features, to that of the most sweet, most affectionate, and most seducing smile. Then her hair assumed successively, under her skilful hands, all the undulations she thought might assist the charms of her face. At length she murmured, satisfied with herself, "Come, nothing is lost; I am still beautiful."
Mumbling that to herself, although she did not by any means consider herself pretty, Lily still felt that looked better than usual, and when the poniard was fixed in the sheath, her lips outlined in coral, and her eyes shaded in midnight blue, she felt she could almost accurately sustain the role of the beautiful, dangerous murderess.
Lily left the dormitory and slipped outside, simply because she felt caged inside. Here, alone, with the stars smiling down on her–or frowning, she couldn't tell–she felt something inside her clamoring to be let out, and with a start, she discovered that, somehow, she knew what the ruthless Milady Clarik felt like when she had been insulted and wanted revenge. The same hatred–though with no cause–boiled up inside her and wouldn't be appeased. Lily was grateful when Sirius hand landed on her arm and led her inside. She had no idea where that sudden hate and recklessness had come from, and she was glad someone was there to contain her.
Dressed in a black outfit, as the cardinal's right-hand man, Sirius also sported a large hat, black, and a long black cloak. He had attached a patch over one eye, and, with a sword fastened to his belt, he was the very picture of a dangerous cavalier. He noted, rather proudly, the stares they got as they walked through the corridors to Gryffindor Tower, and some of the glares. He had never seen anyone look as pretty as the slim, supple, temperamental redhead did when he pulled her in from outside, but he knew she would scoff at him if he told her that. The forest-green eyes, when shaded with the dark blue, darkened them and gave her a somewhat mysterious and fantastical look, matching attractively her medieval outfit. She also wore a necklace around her neck that he'd never seen before; it was on a gold chain, with five golden talons surrounding a midnight-blue stone. He was stunned she didn't know how nice she looked–and he privately thought he'd kill James for convincing her of that in her first year. Still, he refrained from telling her that, and they simply reviewed their skit as they returned to the common room.
When they pushed the portrait door open (clam chowder), Lily was surprised to see a stage set up, which was obviously for the skits. Several people were already assembled, and Lily took a seat next to Remus.
"Hallo!"
Remus turned. "Oh–Lily, hi. Sirius–whatcha going as? You wouldn't tell me before, but it doesn't look good."
Sirius shrugged.

"We almost did Macbeth and his wife, but Lily liked this better. I guess because she has the dress to go with it."
"Oh–and I thought our costumes were all right! I'm a bit put down now."
He did look nice, with a coat of chain mail underneath a scarlet cloak, and with a lance in his hand. And Elspeth did, too, with her eighth-century dress and hanging curls. But Sirius didn't bother to lift him from his delusion.
Lily was watching the arrivals. Peter made a pretty poor Robin Hood, for Lily had the idea that Robin didn't cringe and jump every time someone accidentally pointed a wand at him, but Abigail, in a simple white gown with a deep purple sash, was the perfect Marian. Nigel Patil had decided to go with Miranda, and Lily smiled to see the Antony and Cleopatra costumes–Sirius had given them a hint. Anya MacGregor, the Gryffindor Seeker, had resigned herself to going with Joseph DeVonn, and they made an interesting Pocahontas and John Rolfe. But the two that took up the most space in the common room were Jacqueline de Forté and Frank Longbottom–they were dressed as Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler, and Jacqueline was fingering a vase with cherubs on it, which she was to smash as a reenactment of the scene at Twelve Oaks in the library. Pretty soon, the last couple arrived–James and Serena–and though everyone, including Lily, had to admit they looked very nice together, they all thought Serena could lose the look that suggested that a horse had just done its business in front of her.
The first few skits were hilarious, and everyone laughed themselves sick when Peter was supposed to be shooting at an imaginary stag to show off and accidentally had his blunt arrow hit Abigail in the chest. She ad-libbed pretty well, though–"I've been struck by Cupid's arrow!"–and fell to the ground. She had to raise her head and glare at Peter before he came over and raised her to her feet and proposed.
Pocahontas and John Rolfe were interesting, but a bit bland, as were Romeo and Juliet, simply because the scene was so common and cliché. Cleopatra and Antony did a very nice staged death, and they managed to make the rubber corn snake seen exactly like a real asp. Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher were pretty good, mostly because Tom did lots of 'showing off' antics involving handstands, but the person playing Tom couldn't do handstands and kept crashing into Becky. There were several others, but one of the best were the Scarlett and Rhett scene–Jacqueline, if she had been the right age when the movie was filmed, would have made a perfect Scarlett. The only small flaw was that when Scarlett hurled the vase across the stage and shattered it, Rhett peeked up from behind the sofa and said his line with half of his mustache missing and Josephine curled over, laughing, as did the audience, some of whom were spitting pumpkin juice out of their noses.
Sirius had signed up for the last skit, and, with a final nod, Lily stepped onstage, bringing a table with her and a few sheets of her homework, then started ruffling through the papers. Sirius entered, and Lily started.
"Ah," both of them cried together, "it is you!"
"Yes, it is I."
"And you come?" asked Lily.
"From La Rochelle, and you?"
"From England."
"Buckingham?"
"Dead or desperately wounded, as I left him without having been able to hear anything of him. A fanatic has just assassinated him." A triumphant smile adorned her lips.
"Ah," said Sirius, grinning back, "this is fortunate."
"Do you know who I have encountered here?" Lily's face contorted mischievously, and Sirius seemed to feel he was really in the presence of the dangerous favorite of the cardinal.
"No."
"That young woman whom the queen took out of prison–M. D'Artagnan's mistress, whom the cardinal was unable to locate. Imagine my astonishment when I found myself face to face with this woman!"
"Does she know you?"
"No."
"Then she looks upon you as a stranger?"
Lily tossed her head triumphantly. "I am her best friend."
"Upon my honor," Sirius exclaimed, "it takes you, my dear countess, to perform such miracles!"
The audience sat, half in wonder, half under a sort of spell, as the inherited acting trait Lily had received from her mother shone through, and ran through the lines she and her mother had read so many times at home. Lily knew this character inside out, and the blood of Milady Clarik seemed then to run in her veins as she and the Comte de Rochefort planned the imprisonment of the mistress of D'Artagnan and the sending to the Bastille D'Artagnan and his friend, Athos, on the grounds of Milady's private revenge. Sirius finally stood up.
"Let us see: Buckingham dead or grievously wounded; your conversation with the cardinal overheard by the four Musketeers; Lord de Winter warned of your arrival at Portsmouth; D'Artagnan and Athos to the Bastille; Aramis the lover of Madame de Chevreuse, Porthos an a$$; Madame Bonacieux found again; to send you the chaise as soon as possible; to make you out a victim of the cardinal in order that the abbess may entertain no suspicion; Armentières, on the banks of the Lys. Is that all, then?"
"Capital! Adieu, Chevalier." She fingered a small phial of red powder.
"And what is that?"
Lily's smile became condescending. "This is for Madame Bonacieux–the mistress of the D'Artagnan. It is at least my small act of revenge."
Sirius grinned, shaking his head.
"Adieu, Countess." He left the room, and Lily, looking furtively around her, poured the red powder into a glass, stirring it quickly. As the lights dimmed, they could hear her opening a door.
"Here–drink this–it will restore your strength."
The Gryffindors sat there in silence, but burst into applause when Sirius and Lily reappeared for bows. When they stepped into the audience, everyone was clapping them on the backs and applauding stormily while presenting them with butterbeers and chocolate creams. They were a great success, and to top it off, Lily could see Serena sitting in a corner, glaring at her as James obviously paid no attention to her meaningless chatter.

Lily's mental note not to scream when the bats escaped from under the stage and attacked everyone was wise. She was the only girl that stayed where she was, and her only response when Sirius 'dropped' a bat into her pumpkin juice was to calmly dump it and the liquid into his hat and put the hat on his head. No one tried that again.
Later on in the evening, someone put a radio in the middle of the room and turned it to the Wizarding Wireless Network, and the party went sort of–well, not wild, but more insane. The boys that were dancing (Peter wasn't one) were doing all sorts of gymnastics, and there was always the chance that they would knock into a table and send food flying on someone (usually Peter). And when they dragged the girls into it, they kept pretending it was a sort of cheerleading competition and throwing them up into the air. More than once. Lily had to kick people so as to stay on the ground. It was only when a fast, fast song started with a quick beat, that she actually dared to come out onto the dance floor, which had been formed by the armchairs and tables being pushed against the walls. Remus had pulled her onto the floor, and, a bit shy at first, she started to dance, twirling and spinning and switching partners. And when she got used to it, it consumed her, and whatever it was that had been oppressed inside her that whole evening spun out as she did, and she lost herself in the movements. It was so easy for her to laugh, and she did, laughed lightly as the ringing of golden bells. And there–then at that moment, there wasn't a girl in the room that could contest her, either in spirit or face. The wildness and escaping energy of the moment flushed her face and put a fire in her eyes, and, untamed and ferocious as she was, she didn't fail to, unknowingly, change something in everyone there. Of course, in the girls' case, it was more a jealousy thing than anything else.
The excitement lasted in her until she came upstairs and got undressed and washed her makeup off. As she was lying on her side, reading Macbeth, Serena came upstairs and headed straight for Lily.
"What was the meaning of that?"
"Of what?"
"Your–your behavior down there!"
"I was dancing, dear. It's not my fault if either James wanted to keep you in a corner or you can't dance."
"I do hate you, Evans."
"Likewise."
"What made you think you could do that?"
"Do what? Dance? I had no choice."
"Liar! You've made just about every guy in this stupid tower crazy about you, and you know it. Don't try to play innocent. I know the truth."
"Since when do you know what that word means? The many times you've lied, it seems to me that you haven't any idea that such a thing even exists. And I can assure you, no guy would willingly run after me. You'd have to pay them to do that. Of course, you're also probably paying James to put up with your nasty character."
"You are going to shut you mouth right now,–or else."
Lily deliberately stared at Serena, quizzically searched her face, and dropped her jaw as far as was possible.
Serena stepped forward, thought better of it, turned on her heel, and jumped into bed, tearing the curtain where it was attached to a ring as she yanked them shut.
Lily fell asleep not long afterwards, and dreams of her mother haunted her all night long. That wouldn't have been so strange, but the odd part was that she kept dreaming about places and parties and plays she had never before seen her mother in. More than once she woke up with her face wet.
She woke up early; about six-thirty. Since the party had ended around three, she supposed everyone was still asleep, so she quickly got dressed and went outside; taking The Norse Myths with her.
It was nicely warm outside; about sixty-five degrees. Lily headed straight for a tree near the lake that had two roots that twined to form a sort of makeshift seat. Resting her head against the tree trunk, she opened her book.
Feet crackling near her made her look up. "Oh, hi!"
Sirius sat down. "You're up early."
"Likewise."
"No; I never went to sleep. McGonagall made James and me stay up, cleaning up the common room." He wrinkled his nose. "Then I saw you heading outside, so I followed."
"Why?"
"I don't know–could be because I'm sick of hearing someone blab about what his girlfriend did that night and how exactly she frowned and smiled."
Lily raised her eyebrows. "He does that?"
"Well–not this morning, but I figured I'd leave before he got started."
Smiling slightly, Lily closed her book. "I see."
"By the way–" Sirius fiddled with a piece of grass–"you did really well last night."
"So did you."
He shook his head. "I can't act like that. If I did well at all–it was mainly because you were playing the other character."
"Come again?" Dropping his shoulders, Sirius seemed caught for words. "I–I'm not sure–it just seemed–well–when you were on that stage, it seemed as if you really were Milady. Don't laugh–but I really did feel that way. You moved and talked just like she would have, and–well–well, you were perfect."
Lily laughed. "Don't ever call anyone perfect. There is not a single person on this earth that is."
"You were, though. I wish–I wish–tell me. How did you learn to act like that?"
Puzzled, Lily shrugged. "I never learned anything. I haven't been in any plays–nothing–only Mother was." Her eyebrows knitted. "But I just–I just–there was something about that place that seemed to make everything on the stage real–so real–and the audience vanished. I just found myself being that woman and saying what she would–and it came naturally."
"That's scary."
Lily frowned. "What is?"
"That the part of a cold-hearted murderess came naturally to you."
Smiling, Lily tossed her head. "Well, it did. Mother–" her eyes lost the temporary sparkle–"Mother played her, before she married Father."
"Oh. You told me that when I suggested that–"