Quick update: Lily and Marlene are introduced to wizarding society. Anthony Nott bumps into Marlene, Lily tries to stand up to him but is insulted in the process and forced to be reminded of her servant status.
There was, for once, silence in the kitchen. By the next morning, news had spread like a wild fungus. Each member and guest and each elf and servant in Potter Manor knew of the events that transpired at the party. The fact that those present, namely Lily and Marlene, refused to speak about it, only cemented the fact that indeed Lily had not only spoken out to a pureblood but also then got insulted. The kitchen staff, currently observing the girls weren't sure to be proud or scared for her.
The chopping of onions, the slicing of carrots, and the mincing of meat continued. The air crackled with domestic spells, which only the few very experienced servants were allowed to use. Yet, Fiona, salt and pepper, Libby, Sheila, Jess and every single girl was quiet. The quiet was only disturbed when an un-usually grim Madam Danvers came into the kitchen. Her eyes found and quickly focussed in on Lily. Who, upon feeling the intense gaze, looked up and met Madam Danver's gaze.
"Very well done, Miss Evans." She spoke softly and fervently, the respect clear in her voice. After that, it wasn't long until the whole kitchen, bursting with pride for Lily and indignation for her humiliation, crowded around the girl. Marlene smiled too, knowing that Lily for her modern thinking and forward ways was much more affected than she let on.
…
"Where's yours?" Sirius asked Lily, surprised. Marlene and Lily had made lasagne that day and as per custom, Marlene was already sitting down with the boys for their daily chitchat over lunch. But today, instead of four dishes there were only three. Lily had chosen to not eat with them.
"I'll eat in the kitchen." Lily said briskly.
"Don't be stupid. You'll eat with us," James announced nonchalantly. Lily bristled.
"Is than an order, Mr Potter?" she asked, perfectly polite. James' mouth fell open.
"Lily, he didn't mean it as an order, you know that. Why won't you sit with us?" Sirius asked her.
"It is better that I eat with people who are of the same status as myself," she stated and abruptly left the room. She rushed blindly towards the kitchen and as a result bumped straight into Mr Potter, senior.
"Apologies!" Lily yelped, feeling awful for being so careless. As much as she had pent up anger, one look at James' father made her, momentarily, forget her own problems. He looked awful. She could only stare. In just a few months he had aged and looked, frankly, as if he was on his last legs. Lily couldn't comprehend it.
"Are you, alright, sir?" she asked softly. This man had always been good to her and she owed him some respect.
"I wish," he replied and gingerly made his way past, stopping to gently pat her arm. She stood awkward and embarrassed for a moment before slinking into the kitchen and joining Fiona at the table. The kitchen staff said not a word one-way or the other to her and welcomed her to the table as if she always ate with them.
She did have to go back into the room; however, she had to collect James' plate. It was her job. "Did you eat?" James asked her this as soon as she entered. She noticed there was a slight edge to his voice but she ignored it and nodded her head once.
"Are you finished with your meal?" she asked in return. She picked up the empty plate and was about to leave once more when Marlene called out to her.
"Lily, wait! Sirius and James have an excellent idea. Why don't you go to Diagon Alley and buy a new wand? That way you won't have to share mine!" Marlene was obviously very enthusiastic but Lily didn't share the feeling.
"You're forgetting that I am a servant, Marlene. I don't need a wand."
"You won't always be a servant," Sirius pointed out.
"I will in this lifetime," she said bitterly.
"Don't you want to fight that system that forces you to be a servant? Which stops you from learning and using magic freely?" James asked irritated with her attitude.
Lily shrugged and answered, "I don't see the point."
The next day, the whole process repeated and finally, Lily, exasperated ended up shouting at James to leave her alone and that she didn't want a bloody wand! James, also furious went and sulked in his special room the whole day. Later Marlene told her that he spent a whole day polishing up Claudia and all the other brooms he owned. But Claudia got more attention, Sirius had added. Because Claudia, was James' first and most favourite broom.
Even Remus had his head bitten off by Lily when he supported James' idea of getting Lily a new wand.
"Why are you all forcing me to behave in a manner which I shouldn't!" she had finally spat out and left the boys and Marlene shocked into silence. Peter had sided with Lily somewhat, earning a grim smile of appreciation, but the other four were so annoyed with him that after only two days of being ignored, he changed his mind and sided with James. At this point, Lily simply refused to talk to them and only gave monosyllabic responses to James. She flat out ignored everyone else.
Lily was sitting in the library after lunch, a week later, when James walked in and sat down unceremoniously opposite her. Lily lowered her book and looked at him expectantly but when he said nothing, Lily went back to reading. He cleared his throat and drummed his fingers on the table.
"I'm on break, Mr Potter." Lily stated. James shot up and slammed his fist down. She flinched.
"Why do you insist on this act?" He hissed at her.
"What are you saying?" she asked him calmly.
"This isn't you, Lily. Why aren't you rebelling? Why aren't you trying anymore?" He was irritated by her lax attitude, that much was clear.
"There's no point, nothing to gain," She replied and turned the page.
"No…point? No..Right. So here I am, pureblood trying to make this world a better place and people like you. You are the reason why there isn't ever any progress made. You're just as bad as Nott." He finished. Lily simple glared at him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she growled.
"He's stuck in his idiotic ancient beliefs and now you won't even fight these ridiculous accusations about muggleborns." He was pointing an accusing finger at Lily, as if to say that all the problems in the government were stemming from Lily's lack of rebellion.
"So what?" Lily exclaimed. "I'm a mudblood and that's the truth. Can you change my blood status, James Potter?"
"This is exactly what I'm saying! You've given up! You can't change who you are but you can at least try to improve the society's views!" He shot back at her. They only realised how loud they were being when the room was suddenly filled with Sirius, Remus and Marlene.
"The hell, Prongs?" Sirius said.
"Lils," Marlene added, gently.
"Forget it," James snapped.
"Finally accepted that you can't change anything?" Lily said on purpose. James whirled around and with a shaking finger he replied, "you know what Evans?" I should have let Malfoy take you. You'd have fit perfectly with him. He wanted the perfect, compliant servant and that's exactly what you are, really, isn't it. You're not even bothered enough about your own people." James finished, his breath heavy, as he did, a resounding crash of the room's chandelier shattered everyone's eardrums. They all stared at the culprit. Lily. Eyes prickling with unshed, angry tears, Lily stepped towards James. Who, unaccustomed to being on the receiving end of her temper, remained frozen to the spot.
"Shut up. Just shut up." She said it so fiercely that a braver man would have stepped down, but James wasn't one to give up.
"Why? Done pretending? It was all an act wasn't it? All that bravado and all that talk of change? Spending hours with Remus coming up with proposals to the ministry to change their laws? It was for nothing. You just want a life of luxury. Something that being my servant could provide!" He bellowed in her face. Lily was quick to react, and with a satisfying noise, she slapped him right across the cheek.
"Lily!" Marlene shrieked as James roared and flashed his wand out partly in defence but also with the intention to cast a curse at Lily. But Sirius held him back while Remus deftly disarmed James, using a well-placed non-verbal 'expeliarmus'.
"Learn to quit, James," Remus said tersely.
"Go to hell, Potter," Lily spat and swiftly left the library, leaving a very awkward group behind.
"You were right, Padfoot. I was crazy to have bought her from Ludo!" James said, quite clearly still angry. One hand was cupped around his stinging right cheek. But it wasn't Remus or Sirius who replied, but Marlene. "Enough. You've said enough." She spoke through gritted teeth.
"Oh, I've barely said anything. It turns out, dear Marlene, you know your friend, far less than you thought. She's a coward who is ready to accept her fate rather than fight it!" Marlene's head snapped to James' face.
"It's you who knows nothing about her! What she's been through! What she's lost! And to say she was better off with Malfoy? You're worse than an animal…because at least, animals, have feelings." She spoke quietly, her own eyes leaking. Before anyone could stop her, Marlene too was gone.
"What?" James said dumbly. Sirius sighed and looked at Remus.
"We should tell him," Sirius directed his gaze to Remus but it was James who he was talking about. James looked curiously between the friends.
"You're right, James. Lily gave up. You were right to call her on it. But that Malfoy comment was unnecessary." Sirius spoke carefully.
"It was the truth and we all know it," he replied stubbornly.
"James, Lucius Malfoy was her previous owner. She belonged to him."
James looked as if he had swallowed a lemon. "Oh shit…" he muttered. "Oh shit. He must have been a right git to her!" James pronounced.
"He was. And more." Remus replied.
"What the hell did he do to her?" James practically growled. Lucius Malfoy hated anyone less than a pureblood and he was a known bully. Put the two together and you only got trouble, as James and his friends had experienced first hand.
"I used to tutor her at Hogwarts, you know, in Herbology and sometimes…sometimes she would have welts on her arms and finger marks and thin scratches. She never said anything but I think he used to hit her." Remus hung his head and James stared, stunned and disgusted at the thought.
"That evil bastard!" James snarled, thinking of all the times Lucius had got one up on him and the fact that he had hit her. Hit his Lily. And he, James, had practically told her to go back to him…Marlene's words hit him like another slap. She was right. James had been insensitive. More than just insensitive, he had behaved like an ass.
"Man, I messed up. I told her to return to that monster!" James said in a defeated sort of voice. Sirius patted his back in comfort.
"You messed up Prongs, you got to do what you do best – grovel and if that doesn't work, charm her to get her to speak to you again," he was only partially joking. It was true; James was extremely good at persuading and convincing people.
"She's not putting up an act, Prongs." Remus said.
"She's broken, unsure and probably disbelieving that she can get around any change. Every time she tried, she was squashed back down. Lucius made sure that her confidence and spirit remained broken."
"How did you know, Sirius?" James asked him.
Sirius shared another look with Remus. Well, I might have overheard their conversations a couple of times at Hogwarts. I always had my suspicions. My cousin, Narcissa always spoke about a red-haired servant of Malfoy's. The other day, I told Lily to be careful and she said to me that she's seen and witnessed far worse than I could imagine. Her reaction to Malfoy at the auction, you remember she told him she'd rather drown in a lake infested with inferi than call him master. Then finally today, with the chandelier falling-" at this everyone turned to stare at the chandelier, proof of Lily's fury.
"She really hates him. Malfoy that is. It all makes sense. Why would she have been at Hogwarts? Malfoy sent her so she could get trained just enough to serve him properly. Why had no one seen her at Hogwarts? Because he kept her hidden, like a dirty secret." Sirius ended abruptly.
The three men stood in the library, each lost to their own thought. Eventually it was an owl that broke them from their silent brooding. It was a ministry OWL, asking James and Sirius to report to the Auror department so that the new schedule could be handed out to the officers. Remus too, decided to return to work. After all he had told the goblins at Gringotts he was going for a short lunch break. He didn't think they would be particularly impressed if he returned any later.
No more was said about Malfoy or about Lily.
…
Lily woke up sweating; she shot out of bed and locked her self into the shared bathroom. Feeling dirty and used, she stripped right down to her underwear. Trembling, she got into the shower and turned the taps right up to the hottest setting. She shuddered remembering his hands, snaking their way up her waist and under her clothes. The way his long blonde hair tangled in hers. She scrubbed harder, tears falling down her cheeks as she tried to scrub away the memory of the feel of Lucius Malfoy touching her and forcing her to his will.
The burn felt good and lily scrubbed away at her skin all the time crying.
"I hate you," she muttered, viciously attacking her arms with the scrubber. She remembered the whips that hit her back, his strong clutches, the ropes that he used to bind her. Apparently her sick, masochistic brain not only wanted her to remember the ordeals she sustained at the hands of Malfoy, but now she was forced to relive each moment in her dreams. Huge sobs wrecked her body and eventually she just stood under the hot water, letting the shower wipe away her tears.
"I hate you Malfoy, I hate you." She moaned, wishing she could somehow take away the memories.
Finally, Lily got out and still completely naked, made her way back to her bed. She put her clothes on methodically and gave Marlene, who had woken up from the sounds of the shower running, a small smile.
"You'll catch a cold," Marlene told her. She didn't comment on Lily's obvious scrubbed raw and naked flesh. Nor did she say a word about hearing her cry. She knew. Marlene always knew when Lily needed comfort and when she just needed to deal with it her own way.
"Never mind," lily replied and fell back into her bed, silently thanking her friend for the lack of questions. Had it been Mallory or even Mary, she would not have been given the privacy.
But as much as she tried, Lily couldn't fall back to sleep. Her dream had forced her to remember him, forced her to remember why she rebelled. What she rebelled for. Was she really going to sit down? Take the back seat? Sure she had limited memory of her past, before she was Malfoy's. Sure she was living a life of a servant, but James was on her side wasn't he? Hadn't he made that clear more than once? The answer was obvious to her and without even thinking of the hour, or that she might be disturbing him, Lily padded her way to James room.
She didn't even knock, and opened the door; she stood there for a minute and then, "James?"
She shook his shoulder a little and he jumped up, his wand in hand and one hand half way to her neck as a curse was about to spill from his mouth.
Lily squeaked.
"Lily?" He blinked in confusion, and reached for his glasses.
"Lily?" He repeated, now able to make out her form more clearly.
"I-" she began but faltered.
"I'm sorry." She said finally, her head hung low. James didn't say anything.
"He was your master."
"Yes." She replied simply.
"I'm sorry." He said firmly. Lily wasn't sure what exactly he was apologizing for. His behaviour or the fact she once belonged to Lucius.
"Who told you?" She said
"Remus. And Sirius worked it out."
Lily allowed her self a smile. "About time, he sure had enough clues." Bewildered she could even joke, James just smiled back.
"Why are you here?" He said finally addressing the elephant in the room.
"You need to take me to Diagon alley." She said. James gave her a questioning look.
"I can't fight the world against pure blood fanatics like Lucius Malfoy and Anthony Nott, without a wand."
A slow but sure grin spread across his face and before he knew it he was hugging her.
"Let's get them," and for once everything was perfect. Neither of them knew what exactly they were going to do or how they could possibly bring about a change but then the road to success begins with one step. And Lily and James, in that one defining moment had surely chosen to take the step.
AN: More people are reading this and that makes me super happy. What was your take on this chapter? Let me know, via a review!