Mariah lived in a big white and brick mansion called Stock Hollow in western Cornwall. She had once told Lily that her great great great great great great grandfather had built it after the first one had been blown up by a neighboring wizard because of a "philosophical disagreement". In the past, the Wilcotts tended to be a vindictive people. But now they were a more level headed bunch who enjoyed living the good life in their handsome home. The house had beautiful gardens and a large outdoor pool.
Mariah's parents were welcoming as usual. Connie and Bernard Wilcott were two of the most caring as well as the most snobby people Lily knew, and with Lily's parents, that was saying something. Connie was tall and very thin with straight, light brown hair, hazel eyes and very high cheekbones. Her husband was rather squat, shorter than his wife, and had dark brown hair and a bald spot. Mariah took after her mother. Her hair was light brown and glossy and she had some of her mother's height and her cheekbones, but had her father's deep brown eyes.
"Lily, darling, you look absolutely beautiful!" Connie declared embracing her and giving her a peck on the check. Lily was passed over to Bernard.
"And Head Girl, by gad!" he added, pumping her hand then giving her a hug.
Lily smiled warmly at them. She knew the only reason they allowed Mariah to be friends with her was because her parents were extremely wealthy. Mariah herself told her in their first year, that they could be best friends now because though Lily's parents were muggles, Connie and Bernard (even at eleven years Mariah called her parents by their first names) had done some research and discovered that the Evans were loaded. At the time, Lily had thought that this was odd, but she liked Mariah and needed as many new friends as she could get, so ever since then she and Mariah had been best friends.
"I am so happy to see you both!" she said returning courtesy. "Thank you so much for having me stay again."
"Oh, Lily, don't even think of it!" Connie cried with a wave of the hand. "You are like family to us!"
Like family, Lily thought wryly, her value had apparently gone up since becoming Head Girl.
"Look what Lily's brought us," Mariah chimed in sardonically, holding up the wine and cheese basket.
Connie took it from Mariah, examining it. "How thoughtful!" Wine and cheese weren't normally given as gifts in the Wizarding World, but Lily had seen no harm in it, figuring everybody could eat cheese and drink wine.
"My parents picked them out," she told them.
"How very kind of them," Connie said, smiling. "I'll just run this to the kitchen. I will see you girls later!" she bustled off with the basket.
"Lily I am really very glad to have you here," Bernard said sincerely. "I could not have been happier or prouder when I heard you had made Head Girl."
Lily beamed. "Why thank you Mr. Wilcott!" she had always liked him. "I'm touched."
"Yes well…" he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "I'll let Mariah take you to your room."
Mariah rolled her eyes. "Thanks Dad. Come on Lily. Let's carry your bags; it's faster than getting Old George to bring them." Old George was the Wilcotts' squib butler. No one knew exactly how old he was, but he had been around a long time.
Lily said bye to Mr. Wilcott and followed Mariah up the foyer stairs to the second floor. A door opened to the left; Mariah's 15 year old brother, Lucas, peered out and beamed. He wore swim shorts and sandals. He leaned against the doorframe careful to display his six-pack. He had light brown shaggy brown hair and hazel eyes. He and Mariah could have been twins.
"Hey Lily," he said grinning at her.
Lily smiled sheepishly, "Hey Luc what's up?"
"I was just heading down to the pool, care to join me?" the tone of his voice and the raise of his eyebrows were so suggestive that Lily almost laughed.
"Uh, maybe later Luc," she said.
"Sure whatever," he shrugged, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Jeez Lucas," Mariah said, utterly disgusted. "Try and be more creepy why don't you?"
"What are you talking about?" Luc protested stretching out his hands, "I was being friendly!"
"Friendly?" Mariah repeated, "Lily just walked in the door, and you're already trying to jump her. Go satisfy your raging hormones elsewhere."
Lucas turned beet red. "You're such a bitch." He turned around and slammed the door.
"And put a shirt on!" Mariah shouted at the door.
"Go to hell!" he shouted from the inside.
Lily laughed, amused.
"I bet he's been planning that little encounter for weeks," Mariah said as they continued down the hall. "He is such a loser." She brought Lily to the backside of the house to the room that Lily always stayed in. The room was done in light blue and light brown; it was Lily's little home away from home at the Wilcotts'.
They dropped their burdens on the floor. "Leave it." Mariah told her. "The house elf will unpack for you later."
Lily sat down on her bed. "Seen any of the gang lately?" she asked.
"Once in a while," Mariah told her, sitting against the headboard. "Connie and Bernard don't like me consorting with the 'less worthy'." She made air quotes. Mariah's family was a well-established wealthy family in the Wizarding World. Her parents couldn't stop Mariah from associating with the "less worthy" at school, but they certainly could at home. "I've seen Serena and Toby a couple times, and James Potter a lot. Our parents are like BFFs."
"Lucky you," Lily said dryly. She had always thought James Potter to be more than somewhat of a jerk-off.
"Yea, well, James isn't so bad once you get to know him," Mariah said.
Lily ignored her.
"Oh," Mariah continued, "Sirius bought his own flat in London. An uncle or someone died and left him money. James convinced my parents to let me go to one of his parties. It was wild."
"I can just imagine," Lily said. Sirius was crazy enough at Hogwarts where there were teachers and rules, but on his own and unsupervised… Lily would be surprised if he was still alive by first day.
"Serena said that at one party Rebecca Sawyer from Hufflepuff got wasted and almost jumped out the window naked." Mariah said, raising her eyebrows.
"Wow," said Lily impressed. They had nicknamed Rebecca Sawyer "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" for all her wholesomeness. Guess she wasn't quite so wholesome. "Who stopped her?" she asked.
"Gabby and Nicholas Rouse, according to Serena anyway," Mariah told her.
"Jeez." Lily felt a pang, wishing she could have gone to one of Sirius' parties. But her parents didn't like her going to the homes of people they didn't know. Lily had a feeling that even if they did know Sirius, they wouldn't let her go to his flat. Sirius had that sort of impression on parents.
"Oh!" cried Mariah, remembering. "Connie and Bernard are having a party next Wednesday. I hope you brought a dress."
Lily was used to Mariah popping things like that on her. It was what Mariah did. Luckily, Lily, accustomed to Mariah's little surprises, had come prepared for any occasion in any weather. "Yes," she said. "I brought a couple just in case."
"Good because the 'rents are going all outs. They're inviting practically everyone they know."
"What's the occasion?" Lily asked.
"They're bored," Mariah told her inspecting her nails. "My mom loves showing off to anyone and everyone, and my dad lets her because it boosts his ego."
Lily was quiet a minute then said, shaking her head "Wow, either your parents are sooo transparently simple, or I think you've got a great career in psychoanalysis ahead of you."
Mariah threw a pillow at her. "Let me be angsty! I'm seventeen years old, I've got a right to be."
Lily dropped back onto the coverlet, staring at the canopy. "You know you love it as much as they do."
Mariah was quiet a moment, then lay next to Lily and sighed. "I suppose I do. This is why I need you around Lily, you keep me from wallowing in ponds of self-pity that I don't have."
"That's what I'm here for." They were both quiet a moment. "Mariah?"
"Yea?"
"We're seventh years."
"Yea, I know. This is crazy shit," Mariah blinked. "But I wouldn't go back even if I could."
Lily thought about it a moment. "Me neither," she agreed. "I'm happy where I am."
"You should be, Head Girl."
Lily smiled in spite of herself. "I still can hardly believe it. I mean, Lerissa Goshawke is, like, a genius. I'm glad I beat her though, she's a social retard. What a terrible Head Girl she'd be."
"Totally!" Mariah laughed. She made her voice shrill in imitation of Lerissa, "'If you don't stir the eel's blood right now, I'll tell Professor Campbell that you were the one who stole all the Spanish fly!' Eech, what an effing loser."
Lily giggled, "I still can't figure out how she knew it was you."
Mariah shrugged. "I bet she has her dirty little ways of finding out things about people to make herself feel important. If she was Head Girl she'd go on a power trip and drop points from people for not waving at her in the corridors."
"Def. yea," Lily agreed.
They were quiet a long moment.
"Lily?"
"Yea?"
"You know James Potter is Head Boy, right?"
Lily sighed. "Yea." She had never held a high opinion of James. He was a pompous trouble maker, with little respect for anyone else's' feelings. And he founding extremely amusing to ask her out every other breath. They were sort of in the same group of friends, so Lily had to tolerate him, but she never tried to hide her dislike for him. Unfortunately, it seemed to goad him on. What got Lily the most was that he has smart without trying. Hope and wish as she might, Lily had to work for her good marks. She studied and she practiced and she studied some more. James had spent his entire school career running around playing pranks on people and still he had make Head Boy. The ability to succeed without trying was hard to forgive someone for.
"I've spent a lot of time with him this summer…" Mariah started.
"EW! Do not tell me you two are an item," Lily cried, turning her head to look at Mariah.
"No way!" Mariah cried, a little scandalized, "I'd sooner date Lucas! What I'm trying to say is he's alright."
"'He's alright'," Lily repeated dead-pan.
"Really!" Mariah told her, "I mean he can be a nice guy when you don't hate him so much."
"Mariah, that makes no sense," Lily said, "Besides, I don't hate him, I just – don't like him," she finished awkwardly and sighed. "Let's talk about something else."
"Like what?" Mariah asked.
"I don't know, just not James Potter."
"How about Travis Milner?" Mariah asked, trying to keep her voice light.
"Travis Milner? Who's he?" Lily asked.
"Hot new garden help," Mariah said a wicked grin on her face.
Lily sat up fast, "Garden help?" she asked a smirk on her face. Mariah had no shame.