They Didn't Know We Were Seeds
Their legs are tangled together beneath his sheets and in the dim light filtering through the curtains of his bed, he can just make out the features of Lily's face across from him. He smiles at her, which she returns. Shifting forward to bring her warm body flush against his own, he murmurs, "So he really did it? Severus told the Montague boy?"
Lily sighs into his neck. "Mm, yes, he did."
Dirk turns so he's on his back and pulls Lily to rest comfortably atop him. Playing with her thick locks of red hair, he asks, "How did the lad take it? Swallow it all right? Or did Severus have to… do something drastic?"
His girlfriend gives a soft hum before she answers, "Oh, Sage took Severus being a time-traveler well enough. I imagine quite a lot of things made sense to him then about Severus. It's the other news that didn't go over too well."
Dirk picks up his head to gaze at the crown of Lily's head. "Other news?" he questions, confused.
Lily nods her head against his chest and curls a little closer to him. "That they weren't, and aren't, on the same side of the war."
He frowns. Aren't on the same side? How can Sage possibly consider being anything but being anti-You-Know-Who after everything Severus told him? While he doesn't get the impression Severus believes everyone deserves the same rights in the magical world, he knows there's no way he tried to soften He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's atrocities for the boy. Severus hates You-Know-Who just as much as the rest of them. Pulling Lily slightly away from him so she has to crane her neck to look up at him, he demands, "Are you having a laugh at me? The Montague boy's still thinking about siding with You-Know-Who after all Severus told him about the future?"
Her eyes are sad when she meets his gaze. "Oh, Dirk, you know nothing is ever simple. Even more so when it comes to Slytherins."
Dirk huffs in aggravation. Of course he understands that… Yet if knowing his supposed "Lord" is nearly a fairytale monster isn't enough to make him side with them, what will? "I understand what you're saying, but I just can't wrap my head around it!" he exclaims in a hushed whisper, still fearing somehow he'll wake his dormmates even with a silencing spell on his bed. Dirk looks to his girlfriend once more, knowing he's going to sound like a dolt, but unable to help himself, Dirk asks, "How much did he tell you exactly about what happened? Did Severus say to you he told the lad one way or another it is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named who caused him to die? That either the mad man drove him to take his own life, or he died serving him?"
Lily's face scrunches with a mixture of affront on her friend's behalf and displeasure towards him. "Yes, Severus told Sage that exactly!"
"Sorry!" he says. "Sorry, I just…" Dirk sighs. He doesn't think he'll ever understand the workings of a Slytherin mind and he doesn't know how to explain to Lily just how difficult it is to simply accept that Montague hasn't been swayed by the horror Severus surely shared with him. Making the decision to shift topics, Dirk questions, "How's Severus taking it all? He considers Montague his brother, right? I can only imagine the devastation he's going through, knowing that what he told Montague isn't enough to shake him out of his path."
His girlfriend settles back down on his chest, tracing invisible shapes into his chest. "Afterwards, he came to me," says Lily.
"Oh?"
She nods. "Yes, after he realized that his foreknowledge wasn't enough to persuade Sage there and then, he sought me out. It's been ages since he last cried on my shoulder, but he came and… This will sound selfish, but I was so happy," she murmurs to him. Lily's fingers stop their ministrations and she pulls them into her palm, creating a loose fist which she rests solidly on top of him. "He came to me. I feel as if things are finally good between us again and we're stronger mates for it." Lily half-buries her face in his side. "I should be more upset for Severus, and about Sage," admits Lily, "and I am sad for them. Severus is just heartbroken knowing all he's done might be for naught with Sage. Oh, and Sage! He's so misguided and obviously only wants to please all of those he loves, but he's Severus's, not mine." Almost inaudibly, she says, "Severus is mine."
Dirk tenses. What is that supposed to mean? Lily told him she had nothing but platonic feelings for him when they started this. "Yours?" he questions, tone more accusatory than he plans for.
Lily glances up at him, lips curling distastefully. "Don't give me that look," she chides. "Severus and I have a history that's been strained and broken and mended and strained some more, only to be fixed again. We're bonded for life, him and I." Pulling herself up onto her elbows, she admits, "But before this morning's early visit, I was afraid I had managed to finally ruin our relationship once and for all— Which isn't something I had wanted to do. You have to understand, love, Severus is all I have left of my past, of Harry, James, Remus, Sirius, and so, so many others. I loved my past, still do, in fact. I feel closer to those gone when I'm with Severus."
Abruptly, she leans forward and grabs Dirk's face in both hands, her thumb creating small circles on his cheeks as she gazes down at him with her ethereal green gaze. "And while I cherish Severus and want to keep him close to me always, he's not who I want to be with. Dirk, I hope I don't scare you, but every day, I feel more certain we'll be together forever. Our future has only become clearer and clearer to me. There will be many, many happy days to come for us."
For a moment, he's stunned. He's felt quite strongly about Lily for some time, but hasn't voiced it in fear of this not being something lasting. To know she feels the same as he does… Dirk smiles and covers Lily's hands with his own. He doesn't know what he's done to deserve a girl like Lily, but he's thankful every day for the gift his past-wife gave him. Sometimes, he still feels guilty that there will be nothing between him and Mei in this reality, but it grows less with each passing moment with Lily. Mei had to have known what would be lost when she sent them back; this was a sacrifice she made for him. He'd do his part to live a good, joy-filled life and make a world that the Mei here, and whatever children they had, could live happily in too.
Dirk leans forward and captures Lily's mouth in a long kiss. When he pulls away, he breathes, "I love you, Lily.
"And I love you."
-o-O-o-
Severus stares at Priscilla over his simmering potion. The Hufflepuff is gnawing absently on a fingernail, a half-finished divination assignment in front of her. Pulling her thumb finger from her mouth after a disgusting snap, she spits the part she's bitten off on the floor and sighs. "I hate divination," she says. "I remembered liking it as a girl, but now? I must have been more creative then, because I can hardly ever 'predict' the future now." Scribbling what looks to be the start of a sentence down on her parchment, she mutters, "I'm dropping it next year and taking up something useful like Ancient Runes."
He barely conceals his scoff. "Oh? Do housewives spend a lot of time reading and translating ancient texts?"
She shoots him a glare, but doesn't say anything. For a few minutes, silence reigns between them as he adds bicorn horn to his potion and she finishes writing her latest thought down on her assignment. When he's done with stirring in the bicorn, Severus looks back over at Priscilla and says, "I have been thinking about your dilemma."
She looks up and frowns, her eyes go to her assignment a moment before returning to him. "My… dilemma?"
Severus huffs and rolls his eyes. Why would he be offering her help with that? Severus has never had much time for that poppycock (except that once, with Sybill and Albus, and look how that turned out) and is not a fanciful man. What Severus has to conclude from this interaction is that while Priscilla is perhaps not quite as dull as her son or husband, she's certainly not a genius by any means. Checking the time on his watch to make a mental note when he began to let his potion simmer, he snaps, "Not your bloody assignment! The one to do with Hufflepuff's cup!"
Priscilla breaks out in ugly, loud laughter. "Oh, my apologies! I should have just known that's what you meant from such vague and superficial wording!"
He crosses his arms in disgust and asks, "Merlin, must you turn everything into a row?"
"Must you?" demands the Hufflepuff, fat cheeks flushed red and eyes small with her contempt.
Severus shows her his teeth as he hisses through them, "Do you wish to hear my thoughts or would you rather bungle it all up and get us all killed?"
"I doubt we'll all end up dead," she mutters mulishly.
Raising his voice, Severus proclaims, "We certainly will wish we all were after your ham-fisted attempt to steal the cup under the Lord and Bellatrix Lestrange's noses."
Priscilla turns her body away from him and grumbles, "Oh, shut up!"
Severus starts to levitate ingredients away into their bottles and pack them up in the tiny cupboard he's repurposed to hold them all in the classroom. "Fine, I'll just leave—"
"No, no!" she begs, hopping to her feet. "Don't start up that business. Just tell me already, would you? I promise I'll keep my mouth shut until you finish."
He pauses in his clean up to stare at her a moment. Her stance is tense, but the aggression in her features has now been replaced with quiet pleading. He sighs and continues what he is doing, but slower than before. Gaze on the desktop as he spells it clean, he inquires, "Does your family know Demitri Prince in a substantial way?"
When Severus looks up from the desk, he sees the Hufflepuff open her mouth, only to close it a tick later. He watches on with growing impatience as Priscilla scrunches her face in thought. Finally, just after he's turned his attention to bringing down the fire beneath his potion to embers, she says, "My grandfather and grandmother occasionally have him over for drinks, actually," she admits. "Grandmother and his late wife were good friends from their Hogwarts days. From their stories, I think Mrs. Prince was Grandmother's transfiguration tutor for six of her years at Hogwarts. Mr. Prince and Grandfather have always gotten on quite well too. They both bet on the horses at the races and Mr. Prince has done a lot of advising of Grandfather in financial matters."
Severus releases a breath he didn't know he was holding. His back up had been to go to Albus for assistance for Priscilla— And he still isn't sure that would have been the best choice. The headmaster may have known a way to somehow pull Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange away from the Rookwood home and have people at ready to steal the cup from them, but then Voldemort would know they know what he's doing. What then? Would Voldemort find out they've destroyed the diary? Try to infiltrate Hogwarts to steal Ravenclaw's diadem and hide it elsewhere? Merlin forbid, make another Horcrux?
"Brilliant," Severus says. "I'll write him a letter to let him know we need to speak with him."
Priscilla tilts her head. "What do you think he can do?"
Severus does his best not to smirk or sound too excited as he explains, "I believe we can find a way for him to be there the day Voldemort uses your home to transfer the cup into Bellatrix's hands. I am certain with him assisting you, we can steal it without them even realizing it."
Eyes wide at the idea, the Hufflepuff replies, "Really? You think he— We can do that? Just the two of us?" Twisting her fingers together anxiously, she says, "I agreed to come back because I wanted to save my family's lives, not just the Rookwood's reputation. This seems extremely risky."
He moves around the table to go and lay a hand on the Hufflepuff's shoulder and meet her gaze. "Yes," he says. "I think you two will be able to manage this. I wouldn't suggest it otherwise," he assures her. Then, after a moment of hesitation, offers, "But if you are still uneasy after our discussion with Demitri about this plan, I will tell you my other one and let you choose."
Gratitude shines in her dark gaze as she relaxes beneath his hand. "Alright," Priscilla replies, "I can agree to that."
How did you all enjoy the chapter? It's the first time we've really gotten to see Lily and Dirk alone, isn't it? Which scene did you enjoy most?
As is typical these days, since TDKWWS's last update, if you are a follower of the series, a few stories have been added to Family Branches (A Little Hell, Photograph, and Kin) and Always Gold updated.
Thank you all for reading!
Edited: 1/9/20