Title: Every Marriage is a Mirage (EMM)
Author: Arista Ramabra
Rating: T
Beta: Telwyn Dubois
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
A/N: Sorry for the extremely, extremely long delay! Enjoy!
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Recap of Chapter 5: Lily rants about 'stupid men', James tells his father what happened at the café, and Lily receives an urgent call from her younger brother regarding her sister.
Chapter 6- Decision
It was late evening, and the last golden rays were just fading from view, leaving behind a velvety, periwinkle color. Inside the Ministry of Magic, Lily was just adding the finishing touches to a file about a newly arisen Death Eater case that she'd been working on lately. After finishing, she set down the quill and glanced at the clock on her desk. The blinking neon red numbers read 7:32. Lily yawned, stretching. Picking up the file, she decided to drop it off at Mr. Potter's before leaving. As she passed by Gordo's office, she decided to stop by and say hello.
She knocked on his door and, upon hearing him yell, "Enter", she strolled in leisurely softly shutting the door behind her. Gordo, as one of the Heads (those who headed the field worker teams) had the privilege of his own office and he made use of it well. He had covered the wall with pictures of his Hogwarts days: friends, teachers, and especially, Lily and Jenna, his two best friends. Several bookshelves sat against the wall, lined with books on wizarding law. Beside them was a cabinet filled with exotic drinks of all sorts- reserved only for his important guests. The short dark-haired man sat behind a large mahogany desk with intricate carvings on a high-backed wooden chair, pouring over a large book. In front of the desk were two chairs, similar to Gordo's but a little smaller in size. The whole room screamed of elegance.
Lily dropped her folder on his desk with a resounding thud. Gordo looked up from his book, momentarily startled. He sighed, after realizing that it was just Lily.
"Oh, it's you," he said dismissively, looking back down at his book and flipping several pages.
"Don't I feel loved," she commented wryly, walking over to look at one of his pictures.
It was a picture of her and Jenna with a couple of other friends that no longer lived in England. They were sprawled on the grass in front of Hogwarts, throwing blades of grass at the person taking the picture, in this case, Gordo. One of the girls in the photo had moved to Spain and the other, a guy, now lived somewhere in the US. They'd fallen out of touch though they'd been the best of friends at school. She gazed at it fondly, remembering her Hogwarts days.
"Didn't hear you come in. I was just startled," he said defensively, not looking away from the book.
She turned back around to face Gordo. "Fine, fine. What's that you're reading?" she asked, walking behind him and reading over his shoulder.
It is an old ritual that cannot be changed except by those who wrote the law. Since we cannot change it, it's wiser that we forget and hide the term and save the women of the future from the pains of-
Gordo shut the book before Lily could read more. Lily looked at him. puzzled. Why was he reading about rituals? Especially about the rituals of women? As far as she knew, no one at the moment was working on anything to do with rituals. She shook her head, deciding that maybe it was just a bit of light reading.
"You call this light?" Gordo asked her, pointing at the book, making her realize that she'd spoken aloud.
"Oh sorry… I didn't realize I'd spoken aloud." The young woman colored slightly, the pink of her cheeks in sharp contrast with the paleness of her skin.
Gordo rolled his eyes. "Take a seat, Lil."
Lily raised an eyebrow but took a seat opposite Gordo, anyway. As she moved, she caught sight of the title of the book- 'A Brief Overview of Wizarding Marriages.' Lily's eyebrows shot up, but she refrained from commenting.
"I hope I didn't bother you," Lily commented, actually meaning the words she directed at Gordo.
"Oh, no prob. I was intending on visiting you anyway."
"What did I do?" Lily asked, more out of impulse than anything else.
Gordo rolled his eyes once more at the red-haired woman that never failed to amaze him. "Nothing, Lily. Why do you always assume that you did something wrong whenever I wanna talk to you?" he asked. Lily shrugged.
"Well, because you normally don't talk to me much anymore unless something of importance comes up- which normally means that I've messed up someplace."
Gordo chuckled. "Too true," he agreed. He soon sobered up and adopted a serious tone. "Lil? Seriously, all kidding aside, I've been doing research for you."
"F- for me?" Lily asked, surprised.
"Yes. About this marriage proposal that you've received."
Lily looked up at him in shock. The entire room seemed to darken and out of nowhere, a draft of frigid air seemed to blow in. Goosebumps appeared on Lily's arms, though she knew not why.
Why am I becoming so paranoid? She asked herself. He just wants to talk to me about something. But… Oh! Why do I have a bad feeling about this? She mentally shook herself and concentrated on what Gordo had to say.
"The world wasn't always the world we know today, Lil. We've changed and adapted to this ever-changing universe just like everyone else. But this culture, too, was once as prejudiced and racist as any other. The wizards ruled everything; the women had almost no freedoms. They couldn't take part in politics, work as Aurors, fight against the Dark Wizards or Witches of their time, or basically do anything worthwhile. They were just kept at home after their schooling and served their husbands- much like the Malfoys do even now. Narcissa sits at home most of the time while Lucius is out on his raids. And even if she wished, she couldn't do anything to betray her husband" Gordo turned around to face her, his back to the tall beech cabinet. He slowly walked back to his desk and fingering a velvet lined picture frame he asked her slowly. "Do you know what an Unbreakable Vow is?"
Lily nodded her head, confused as to where this was going. "Yes, but what does this have anyth-" Gordo held up a hand.
"When a wizard and a witch are married, they make a vow, vowing never to leave each other," he stressed the last part..
"You mean they make an Unbreakable Vow?" she asked incredulously.
"NO! It's not that serious. Well it's like anUnbreakable Vowexcept that it won't cause death if you break it. But it is a magical bond nonetheless so you can't break it. And though it isn't Unbreakable, there are certain rituals that need to be performed before the separation can occur."
"But then marriages can be broken… what's the problem?" she asked hesitantly. Gordo sighed.
"In theory it can. It's just never been attempted before."
"Then… I'd… die if I went through this?" she asked, hollowly.
"We… can't say. I mean it's never been attempted before."
"No wizard or witch before has ever felt the need to divorce her husband, wife, whatever?" she asked, a bit shocked. In her mind, the shock had been replaced by the starting of a resolution. It was barely there but slowly, surely it was making its way into the depths of her mind.
Gordo still refused to meet her eyes. "I told you before, Lil. The women were chained to their husbands like Narcissa and Malfoy. And the men enjoyed having the women practically grovel in submission. A divorce need two signatures- one of them the husbands. When the wives were scared of the husbands and scared of the ritual its not entirely impossible. The wives knew that if they dishonored their husbands by asking for a divorce knowing that they most certainly would not give their signature, their husbands would either torture or kill them."
"I don't believe that not one single person felt the need to do this," she muttered getting up and pacing around the room. "I just don't! Then where does the 'divorce' part come from?" She addressed the last part to Gordo.
"It's a muggle concept… Mostly it was just annulling or canceling of marriages…"
Lily finally rose.
"I gotta go," she said turning to the door.
"Lily," he called. She turned back. "Sleep on it. Make your decision" He conjured up a small packet of tissues and handed hem to her. She grabbed a few of them and wiped her face. She slowly, fixed her appearance and left the room with out a single glance back, leaving Gordo sitting at his desk and fingering the files that Lily had left behind. He mentally set himself a reminder to leave the files at her desk when she made her decision, forcing her to face Mr. Potter.
Someone had to do it, he thought wryly, pushing himself up and the guilt away. I just happened to be the lucky one, he consoled himself and locking the door behind him, he set out down the hallway of the brightly lit Ministry.
-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-
Lily took off from work on Saturday (claiming sick-leave) and she didn't work on Sundays, as she wasn't a field worker, glad it was the weekend. She'd spent most of her time lying on the couch in front of the fire brooding about the things Gordo had so suddenly placed upon her. She had no one to turn to for an unbiased comfort: Jenna was in Geneva with her boyfriend for the weekend; Gordo was a guy; her family had enough to worry about with out her adding to their troubles; and she had no other people really close to her.
She's sat down, thought about the pros and cons of each decision, and later wrote them down. She clutched the list in her hands and read through it once more.
Pros
Granted dates for occasions
A way to get money for Evelyn and her child
A way to meet Daray occasionally
She hurriedly crossed that out. No. That wasn't a pro. That wasn't good. After making it as black as possible, she continued on.
A way to help her family
A way to get rich
Oh! What was she thinking? She hurriedly scratched it out too. She looked at the next pro only to find that the list had ended. It was now the cons.
Cons
Maybe living with the werewolves
She double underlined it.
James
She triple underlined that. James was surely the main reason for her not to want to marry him. Oh! That didn't make any sense, she groaned. She banged her head on the table, hoping to clear it; but her answer remained foggy… though she now could add a slight headache to her growing list of problems. She groaned even louder and, frustrated, she tore up the slip of paper.
Ten minutes later, her brother found her rewriting the list on the living room table, the door openly inviting guests and the warm Sunday afternoon sun.
"Lily? Why are you making a list of the pros and cons… of marriage?" Steve asked as he looked over her shoulder. She jumped up and hurriedly crumpled and stuffed the paper under the table.
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all!" she chirped, over cheerily. He placed a hand on her forehead.
"You're not sick are you?" he asked, concerned.
She swatted away at the hand. "I'm fine, Steve." He gave her a skeptical look but dropped the matter anyway. "You want anything to eat or drink?"
Steve shrugged.
"Just water will do… thanks." She conjured up a glass of water and set it before him, not wanting to leave his sight; for fear that he'd look at the slip if she left him alone.
"So… did you need anything?" Lily asked Steve, eying him oddly. She conjured up another glass and started to sip the water slowly.
He took a sip of water. "Oh, nothing much. Mum woke." She spluttered, spraying water all over the table and her clothes.
"What? Nothing much!" she gasped. "Mum woke and you have the nerve to say 'nothing much?' " she shouted at him. He shrugged.
"Just drop it, will you," he sighed, exasperatedly. "She didn't want anyone to make such a big fuss over her."
"So what did she decide about Eve?"
"Why don't you come over?" he asked her, casually.
"Now?"
"Yeah."
"I'm sorry, there's something I need to work out. How about for dinner? I'll be here. Tell mom, ok?"
He shrugged. "Ok… Later."
Lily started after him and watched him exit before diving under the table and retrieving the crumpled paper. She smoothed it out and found that the ink had run together leaving it impossible to read. She groaned, frustrated. She glared at the piece of paper. She finally gave up and resigned herself to a book, hoping that the answer would just magically appear.
-x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x- -x-
Lily pulled on a green halter with a pair of jeans and glanced at herself in the vanity. She then pulled half her hair into a ponytail and left the rest to fall gently upon her shoulders. She added a little eyeliner and, finally satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her wand. After dimming the lights and locking the door, she Apparated to her parents' house.
She'd sensed that she needed to look good that night, so she'd dressed a little more carefully than normal. Lily had long ago learned that she could trust her instincts to lead the way., she felt her heart pound loudly in her chest as she walked up to the porch. She tentatively knocked on the door, thinking that she might phone in an excuse and leave. But, right on cue, the door opened. Petunia's lovely head poked out.
"Oh. It's you." She opened the door further.
Lily raised an eyebrow at the hospitality but, nevertheless, walked in without a comment. She heard Petunia shut the door behind her and hurry away to the kitchen. Lily slowly made her way to the living room, where she found half empty glasses of wine and a couple of bowls of snacks. She looked around the eerily quiet room, but she found nothing amiss.
"Hello?" she called out, hoping that someone other than Petunia was there. Petunia was hardly good company, especially for dinner. She heard a scraping of chairs and, soon enough, her brother Steve entered the room So that's where 'Tunia went, Lily thought to herself wryly as she followed Steve into the dining room. So nice of her to invite me along.
Lily paused to fix her top as her brother went on inside. She found the room to be exceptionally quite- especially for people eating dinner. She cautiously stepped through the doorframe and looked around the room. No one was eating anything, dinner set out before them but not a single spoon touched. She looked around at the blank or angry faces suspiciously until she came across a very, very familiar face. Her eyes widened.
"Daray!" she muttered under her breath. Her eyes proceeded to seek out his blue-green eyes. At finding them unresponsive, she gave it up. As she slowly walked towards the table, one by one they turned to look up at her: her mother, weary and tired, Steve, terribly angry; her father, blankly; Evelyn meekly playing with her food; Petunia spearing the peas on her plate with more force than was necessary; and Daray… He looked up at her with indifference and a certain coldness that made Lily's eyes sting with tears. She looked away, hoping they wouldn't fall down her face. Then Daray spoke.
"So this is your sister?" He directed the question at Evelyn, a hint of amusement hidden in his voice. Evelyn nodded silently.
He turned to look at Lily. "Lily, eh?" he asked her.
She ground her teeth. "It's Evans."
"Apologies, Ms. Evans," he said coolly, for sure not meaning what he said. Lily glared at him. The rest of the family watched the exchange curiously, her brother and sister even letting go of their anger to watch them. He seemed not to notice anything. For his next sentence was, "Would you like to join us for dinner?"
Lily completely lost it. "You come to my house and you invite me to dinner!" she shrieked. Daray was taken aback.
"Whoa! Sorry!" he cried but Lily had had enough.
"Get out!" she hissed.
"What?"
"Get out! Now!"
"You heard her. Out!" interjected Steve.
Daray refused to move ignoring Steve. "Well, I was invited to dinner-"
"I don't care!" Lily yelled. "I want you out of my house NOW!"
Daray coolly stood up. "Make me," he hissed pulling out a wand. The family seated around the table gasped as they realized that he was a wizard.
Lily too whipped out her wand. "Put it away. You know you can't handle a duel with me. Not even Lupin could." Daray glared at her but jammed the wand back in his pocket and strode out without even a glance back, stopping only to grab Evelyn's arm.
"Where are you taking her?" Steve, the first to notice, asked him.
Daray looked at the young boy with distaste. "Home, boy. Or perhaps you don't know where it is."
Steve glared at him in return. "No, you're not."
"Yes, I am. It's my fault that she has to bear this thing so she'll live with me." He pulled her once more.
"Let go, Daray," Lily called, her wand pointing to his back. He spun around. "It's Mr. Willis," he said mockingly, baring his teeth.
"Get out of here. We can take care of Evelyn," Steve said, pulling on her other arm. He looked around the room once more before letting go of her arm.
"Let me see you try." With one last glare at the family he stormed out of the house, letting the door slam shut behind him.
Lily sighed as sank down into a seat beside Evelyn. She put her head in her arms and banged her head against the table as the rest of the family watched.
She finally pulled her head up, eyes filled with determination. "That's it. I'm getting married."