AN: I apologise for the unnecessary wait with this chapter, especially since this was ready and done about a week back.
Just a quick mention that Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon), died recently due to complications after heart surgery. Following that, only two days back the UK's ex-prime minister Margaret Thatcher also died.
Britain and really the world has lost two quite important and special people in the space of about a week…
R.I.P Mr. Griffiths and the Iron Lady!
Thank you to the wonderful reviewers and readers. You are my sole motivation.
…
There was a rapping on the wooden door.
"Mallory it's your turn to pay the damn owl!" Marlene grumbled loudly as she tried to go back to sleep.
But the incessant rapping continued and instead of getting any less it just became louder and louder until, eventually Marlene got out of her bed moodily and turned to a sleeping Lily, instead of Mallory.
And then she realised that she wasn't in Ludo Bagman's caravan anymore. Therefore there could be no owl. Marlene turned her head fearfully towards the door – almost expecting whoever was knocking to fling it open.
"Lily," Marlene began.
"Go away, it's too early, tell Ludo to make his own breakfast today!" Lily mumbled as she turned in her bed.
"Lily! There's someone at the door. We're in Potter Manor, get up." Marlene hissed, throwing Lily's cotton sheets off of her body.
"PESKY PIXIES!" Lily exclaimed at the sudden rush of cold air as she tried to retrieve her bed covers.
"There's someone at the door and I don't know what to do," Marlene informed.
Lily glared at her. "So? Open the door. What do you expect me to do?"
Marlene gave her friend a withering look as she cautiously made her way to the door. "I doubt it's a dragon behind that door," Lily giggled, her red hair falling messily into her face.
Marlene turned the handle and opened the door. There stood a five-foot, nothing woman. Her hair was tightly wound up in a bun on top of her head. She had a long thin wand in her hand and a big bundle of parchment in the other. Her black robes were pristine, as if they had just been ironed. As she saw the Potter's court of arms in the corner, Marlene realised, with a start, that this was a uniform.
The woman cleared her throat and Marlene looked up fearfully…and tried not to gasp. The woman had naturally thin lips and at the moment they were pursed even thinner. Her eyes were brown but instead of warmth they were cold. Cold and furious.
"Do you realise how long I have been knocking on the door for?" she barked in a perfect English accent. Marlene's eyes grew wider as she struggled to form a sentence.
"Why are you still dressed like a rag doll?" she snapped at Marlene, taking in her ratty Muggle t-shirt and pyjama bottoms.
"Answer me, girl!" the irate woman hissed.
"I'm I'm sorry, I was asleep until you knocked!" Marlene said in a tiny voice. Rather than placating her, it just made the woman more ferocious looking.
Just then Lily, who had been wondering what the noises outside were, came to the door.
"Girl!" the woman barked eyeing Lily's similar attire.
"It's Lily,"
"Whatever it is, why have you not started getting ready? There are chores to be done. We can't afford to lose time."
"Who are you?" Lily asked, not really caring that the woman was reaching the end of her patience.
"That is none of your concern!" the woman answered.
"But how will we know what to call you, if we don't know who you are?" Lily retorted. Marlene just sighed as the frustrated woman stared at Lily.
"I can see that you will not let this drop," the woman responded after a while.
Lily just shook her head and smiled sweetly at the older woman.
The woman's lips gave a funny twitch and both girls became suspicious of a smile that was under those lips.
"I am Madam Danvers, the house keeper of the manor. Now get in those showers and be ready to report for chores in thirty minutes. Come on, be sharp!"
"But you didn't tell us what we should wear," Marlene piped up and Lily's face split into a huge grin.
"Put on any black robes," Madam answered, shaking her head in disbelief.
Lily saluted her as she and Marlene made their way back in.
"And tone down that cheek!" Madam Danvers added as an afterthought.
"So what were you saying about dragons?" Marlene asked as Lily closed the door behind them. She turned round to face Marlene and shook her head.
"Nah. She reminded me of a short Professor McGonagall. Hard exterior but a softie on the inside." Lily said with a reminiscent smile on her face.
Marlene couldn't help but agree.
"Did you see how high her bun was?" Lily asked suddenly.
"Tripping toadstools, I wonder how long it takes her in the morning to do it up!" Marlene snorted.
"That is none of your concern!" Lily giggled, imitating Madam Danvers to perfection and both girls fell about laughing.
…
At eight o'clock sharp, Madam Danvers collected the girls and led the way. Their first task was in the kitchens.
The kitchen was in a floor even below the basement, where Lily and Marlene had slept the night. And it covered the entire floor.
There were literally shelves upon shelves. Cupboards upon cupboards and hundreds of pots and pans of all sizes scattered here and there.
Some pots were stirring themselves, some cutlery was sorting itself out into different piles and amidst it all, were the girls. Or rather, the servants, or as they liked to be called-the kitchen staff.
All in all it was a very warm and welcoming sort of a place. Over the suffocating fumes of ingredients and spices, over the soap spuds which hit people left, right and centre, in the middle of girls chattering away, Lily and Marlene couldn't help but smile and inhale the beautiful atmosphere.
"New maids, madam?" an older looking maid asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.
"Indeed. I will collect them before lunch. Masters Potter and Black are having their meal with the lads and would be expecting the girls to serve them." madam answered, ushering said girls in front of her.
The woman who had initially spoken nodded her head and smiled gently at Lily and Marlene as madam made her leave.
"I'm Libby O'Sullivan, I've been in service for ten years but just last year I got promoted to head of the basement kitchen." she started speaking and led the girls to the middle island where at least twenty girls were dicing vegetables. They all turned towards Lily and Marlene as they approached the table.
"Oh hello!" one of them said.
"Hi," Marlene replied while lily remained silent.
"So, new are you? Don't worry! Potter manor is easy enough to work in. I was fourteen when I came here and now I am seventeen and I got used to it easy enough. Are you liking it here, so far?" the girl spoke again, words tumbling on top of each other.
"Oh Freya stop pestering them, for Pete's sake. " another woman with salt and pepper hair said, rolling her eyes at the girl named Freya.
"We are making broth for Mr potter's father, just now. He's quite fussy and the only thing he likes to have is broth so it is made in batches once a week. Later we will all start with lunch for the different groups at the manor today." The salt and pepper lady explained. "Here Red, you can start with peeling the carrots. " Libby added.
Lily slipped into place where the carrots sat on the counter. Marlene was given courgettes to dice.
"Don't use magic in the kitchen while you are cooking", a fat but happy maid said as she laboured over de-skinning chicken pieces.
"She's right!" Freya piped up.
"Of course I am," the fat woman quipped.
"I never really did care for the domestic spells." Lily grinned.
"Just as well, I'll tell ya! Best to cook the food yourself. Don't want the whole pot exploding just because you mispronounced an incantation!" the fat woman spoke again.
"So Red, what magic is your interest?" the girl with salt and pepper hair asked as they all worked on adding their respective ingredients to the centre pot.
"Charms. Top of the class at Hogwarts." Marlene said proudly nodding at her friend.
There were many gasps and gleeful looks.
"You went to Hogwarts?" Freya squealed.
"Did you hear that Libby? We have a Hogwartian in our humble kitchen!"
"Two, actually. Marlene went too. She was always a pie at potions."
All the girls oohed and ahhed.
"Did ya hear that one Libby? Blondie, here, went to Hogwarts too!"
"James went there for his magical education as well," Libby input to the conversation but not many were listening. Everyone wanted to talk to the two girls suddenly.
"I always wanted to learn the magic they teach there. Oh if only I could duel someone!" Freya squealed again as she stole Libby's wand and swished it in the air like a sword, making the girls laugh. A cross Libby snatched her wand back and told Freya to start putting away the washed dishes.
"So you are the special ones," Libby said as she took over the mixing of different herbs, which previously Freya had been doing.
"Special? How is that?" Marlene asked.
"Well you, both of you, are Master James and Sirius' first personal maids.
"Oh," was the only reply that Marlene could give.
They worked efficiently. In twenty minutes the broth was complete and a house elf was summoned to take a portion of it to the Potter quarters. After which Libby instructed the girls on the menu and divided the girls up so that the different groups who were to dine today, could be specifically catered for.
Upon Freya's request, Lily and Marlene and Libby herself, were joined by Freya as they made a mushroom risotto for James, Sirius and their two mates.
"You know the house elves," Marlene began.
"Hmm?"
"What exactly do they do?"
"Well they do whatever anyone asks them. The ones in potter manor love picking up dirty linen and cleaning the rooms. So if you find your clothes missing or your things misplaced, don't fear...it's just the elves!" Libby said fondly.
"But why have them at all when a maid could just as easily do it?" Lily asked.
Libby gave her a funny look. "What else can the potters do? They can't exactly dismiss them; the poor creatures would have nowhere to go. Besides, almost all of them have been born and raised in this manor. Leaving this place would be too traumatic for them."
Lily nodded her head feeling a sense of affection for the members of the Potter household, suddenly. Lily always respected those who sought to help others. And anyway, she always loved talking to house-elves. They made for good company at times when human politics became unbearable.
"You absolutely have to show us some of the charms you learnt," Freya said earnestly.
"Oh Freya, you are such an annoying little bug," the fat woman spoke from her end of the kitchen. Her statement would have seemed rude, but her kind face and joking manner showed that it was a far cry from it, and that she was only teasing the young maid.
Nevertheless, both Lily and Marlene felt inclined to perform a spell or two just so Freya would stop pouting.
Marlene extracted her wand from beneath her work robes and twirled it gently in front of Freya's face and dozens of multi-coloured petals showered down. Freya jumped around delightedly as the other girls looked on in awe.
They made Marlene repeat the charm at least ten times before Freya told lily it was her turn to show something.
Lily looked around the kitchen in great thought as she accepted the wand from Marlene. Spotting the pineapple, Lily first levitated it to her counter. Although, it wasn't anything spectacular, there were appreciative nods all round-as if it were a seventh year charm instead of a first year. But then Lily whispered an incantation and in front of the excited girls' eyes, the pineapple started tap dancing.
The younger maids clapped their hands, Freya who had been whooping quite exuberantly laughed the loudest and the older maids, some who could perform quite high level magic themselves, smiled indulgently at the younger maids.
Marlene and Lily stood there, feeling, perhaps for the first time, that the magical world wasn't as bad as they had thought.
"Girl! Put that away, this instance." madam Danvers was back and she looked rather peeved.
"Why so gloomy, madam?" Libby asked as she pushed the plates of risotto onto trays for the two girls to carry.
"Some idiotic elf has left the sink running, again. The entire fourth floor has flooded! We're lucky none of the ministry dignitaries stayed the night yesterday or else there would be trouble for all." Madam said in a flustered manner.
"Probably Mindy again. Never had much sense, that one. Quite the scatterbrain as well," salt and pepper, as Lily and Marlene had come to a silent agreement to call her, spoke. Madam Danvers merely grunted as she called Lily and Marlene forward.
"I'll let Fiona know. She can get one of her cleaning maids to sort it out. Nothing like a small weather control charm won't solve." Libby ensured Madam.
…
"Tripping toadstools!" Marlene exclaimed as she backed out of the door way and nearly knocked lily's tray askew.
"What is it?" Lily hissed, not at all impressed.
"Lily! It's your friend...that boy who helped you with Herbology!"
"What?" Lily repeated disbelievingly.
"You mean Remus?" she asked.
"I don't know his name but I recognize him. Have a look yourself, and tell me I'm right!" Lily edged her way closer to the door and peeked in. Four men were sitting around a glass table.
All had their heads turned away from the doorway but Lily's eyes focused in on the sandy-haired head. She stifled a gasp as an excited look came over her face.
"Do you think he'll remember me?" Lily asked in a hushed voice.
"What are you girls doing? Its ten minutes past noon! Don't tell me you've just been standing here instead of going in!" Madam Danvers scolded.
Before either girl could reply, Madam knocked smartly on the door.
The two girls looked nervously at each other. This was their first task with their masters, a good beginning was essential.
…
AN: And that is a wrap…for now :) Bear in mind, I have only one and a half pre written chapters left so unfortunately that means, a little waiting…sorry, but I won't rush and make a slap-dash job of this. I'm having immense fun with this fic, hope you're enjoying it too! Any questions, please ask in a review. Any suggestions, please let me know. Any criticism, do give me your opinions and of course, any GOOD thing…well, how can I say no to that?
Peace, my lovelies!
-Vitzy-